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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23990680">Universal Signs</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/awhitehead17/pseuds/awhitehead17'>awhitehead17</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Red Robin (Comics), Superboy (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A Metal Pole, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Anxiety, Bart doesn't help matters, Being mistreated, Cassie is done with everything, Cauterization, Confused Human Tim, Core Four, Emotions, Everyone else is an 'alien', Family Bonding, Family Reunions, Fights, Friendship, Gen, Human Tim, Humans Are Weird, Humans are space orcs, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Kon tries his best and kinda fails, Mentions of Blood, Minor Injuries, More injuries, Panic Attacks, Shenanigans, Sleep, So many emotions, Space Ships, Tim being dramatic, Tim is a tough cookie, Tired Tim Drake, Torture, bit of Violence, he has no idea what's going on, language barriers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:42:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>102,598</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23990680</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/awhitehead17/pseuds/awhitehead17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>On the way to pick up from materials from an abandoned planet, the last thing Kon and his team expected to find was an unknown figure angrily beating up an old escape pod with a metal pole. Despite how odd it was, there was something inside of Kon telling him that he had to somehow help this person.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bart Allen &amp; Tim Drake &amp; Kon-El | Conner Kent &amp; Cassie Sandsmark, Tim Drake &amp; Dick Grayson &amp; Jason Todd, Tim Drake &amp; Kon-El | Conner Kent</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>192</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>459</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Humans Are Space Orcs</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So this story spawned from going through the 'Humans Are Space Orcs' tag on Tumblr. I really liked the concept of it and wanted to write something following that idea involving the Core Four.</p><p>Please enjoy! :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We’re here.”</p>
<p>Bracing himself for impact, Kon slowly descends the ship down to the ground and feels a hard jolt once the ship has touched down. Moving on autopilot, he flicks all the switches off and makes sure the ship won’t leave without them before exiting the cock pit.</p>
<p>As he makes his way down to the back of the ship where the exit was he’s joined by his two partners. He opens up the door and together they all walk out of the ship and onto the new planet they’ve just landed on.</p>
<p>Kon turns to the other two, “We don’t want to be here for too long remember, it’s just a simple grab and go task. We shouldn’t be disturbed, hopefully.”</p>
<p>They nod but before heading off to do their individual tasks, Cassie speaks up, “We need a 100 planks right?”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Kon agrees, “However I was thinking perhaps if we get 150 just to be on the safe side. Then there’s always plenty of spares if we need them.”</p>
<p>Cassie raises an eyebrow at him, “Are you sure?” She glances back at the ship. “Will we be able to store it all, along with everything else we still need to collect?”</p>
<p>“It should be fine. I want extra of this stuff because it’s more rare than everything else we need to get. Also this planet is abandoned, so there should be plenty around and then we won’t have to fight for it either.”</p>
<p>“Okay, if you’re sure…” She trails off looking doubtful.</p>
<p>Kon rolls his eyes and opens his to speak but he cuts himself off when a loud clanging sound could be heard from the distance. The three of them freeze, looking at one another with uncertainty. The clanging happens again and again, the sounds traveling through the air right to them at the ship.</p>
<p>“So much for this planet being abandoned.” Bart, the third member who had been uncharacteristically quiet until now, comments.</p>
<p>Both Kon and Cassie send him a glare for the obvious statement. “What do you think it is? Kon can you use your advanced hearing and see if they’re a threat?”</p>
<p>Kon focuses on his hearing, stretching it to where the source of the clanging sound was coming from. “It sounds like metal hitting metal.” He reports to the others. “Whoever it is they’re very angry and frustrated, I think they’re ship has crashed? They’re lost by the sounds of it?”</p>
<p>He draws his attention back to his crew, “Shall we go and see if they need help?”</p>
<p>Cassie looks apprehensive at the idea but Bart lights up. “They could be in trouble! I’ll go have a quick look!”</p>
<p>“Bart-” Cassie starts to protest but he’s gone before she could even finish his name. She turns on Kon then. “It could be a trap you know? Could be a siren or pirates, someone who wants to kill us.”</p>
<p>Kon shrugs, “Or it could be someone in need of our help. Look why don’t we just go see if they’re alright then get what we came for and go?”</p>
<p>In a blink, Bart is back in front of them. “Well it appears to be only one guy. I couldn’t tell what species he was from looking at him. He’s pretty angry and was beating, what looks like a singular escape pod, up with a metal bar which is making the clanging sound.”</p>
<p>“Escape pod? Oh joys he could be a universal criminal for all we know!”</p>
<p>Kon thinks about it for a moment, but there was a strong pull inside of him that’s telling him to go and check on them. He looks at Cassie, “I’ll go then, I’ll go see if they’re alright while you two start loading up the planks if you’re that concerned.”</p>
<p>Cassie crosses her arms and glowers at him, “We are not letting you go on your own to see an unknown. Bad things will happen if we allow that. We’ll go as a team if you really think we need to go and help them.”</p>
<p>Kon nods and sends her a smile which gets him a glare in return. No more was spoken between the three of them as they make their way over to where there was someone apparently beating up an escape pod. He and Cassie take to the air while Bart runs along the ground, making the trip there much quicker.</p>
<p>They make their way through the forest that was surrounding them, allowing Bart to lead the way, until they come across another opening. They stop at the edge, crouching behind some bushes of the clearing and take in the sight before them. Bart wasn’t wrong, there was a lone, male looking, figure beating up a broken looking escape pod. He seemed to be yelling, beating and kicking at it.</p>
<p>It was just as amusing watching it as it was worrying. There’s all kind of reason why this figure could have ended up like this. This guy was screaming at the thing as he beat it relentlessly with a pole.</p>
<p>“Now what?” Cassie asks watching the scene with a raised eyebrow. “It’s probably not best to go and engage with him while he’s got that pole in his hand.”</p>
<p>“That pole couldn’t hurt us.” Conner says looking at her.</p>
<p>She looks back at him, “Probably not but we don’t know who he is, what species he is, what power he holds and the reason why he’s here in the first place.”</p>
<p>Kon looks away, not wanting to admit she’s got a point. He looks back at the figure, his Caucasian skin, dark hair gives nothing away, neither does his lean figure. The way he’s speaking sounds different, he’s got an accent but Kon doesn’t recognise where it’s from.</p>
<p>“Well there’s only one way we’re going to find out.” Before the others could protest he stands up and leaves the bushes to walk out into the clearing. He goes slowly and starts making his way towards the raging figure.</p>
<p>“Hey!” He calls getting his attention. He mentally prepares himself to fight just in case he’s severely miscalculated this whole situation.</p>
<p>The figure stops at his words, the pole was in mid-air as he was taking another swing at the pod when Kon called. Just as Kon was getting closer the figure slowly looks over his shoulder, Kon sees his eyes go wide once they make eye contact and then the figure was spinning around fully and raising the pole up in defence, pointing it at Kon.</p>
<p>Kon stops walking and raises his hands up in the universal sign of peace. Hopefully the guy won’t attack him. “I don’t want to hurt you, can we talk?”</p>
<p>The guy doesn’t move, he’s looking at Kon with something like terror. He wasn’t that scary was he? He could be intimidating when he needs to be, but he’s trying to show that he wants to help.</p>
<p>Kon points to the pod behind him, “Your pod broken? Did you crash here? Do you need help?”</p>
<p>The guy carries on staring at him unmoving. It’s like he hadn’t even heard Kon. After a moment, the figure in front of him shifts, the pole moves slightly to the left of him which gets Kon glancing over his shoulder. He finds to Bart and Cassie now walking towards them. The guy opposite them was watching all of them with wide eyes and stood defensively, still using the pole like a barrier between him and them.</p>
<p>“I don’t think he can understand you Kon.” Cassie comments watching the guy before turning to him.</p>
<p>“But surely he should have a translator” Bart says. He looks at the figure in front of them, “Hey! Do you understand us? Do you have a translator?”</p>
<p>The guy continues to stare at them in what appears to be shock. Cassie slaps Bart, “You’re freaking him out!”</p>
<p>“It’s Not my fault! Hey what happened to your ship?” Before anyone could tell him not too, Bart zips over to the pod and looks around it. He stands still for a moment, peering into the broken window.</p>
<p>The guy blinks at them and whips his head around to find Bart close to him. He immediately backs up even more and holds the pole higher as if to fend Bart off. Then in a blink Bart was back at their sides, Cassie once again slaps him.</p>
<p>The figure somehow manages to look even more freaked out when Bart was no longer near him but now back at their sides. It’s strange, it’s like he’s never seen a speedster before.</p>
<p>“So if he can’t understand us what do we do?” Bart asks rocking on his feet.</p>
<p>Kon goes to answer him but he’s stopped short when another voice speaks up. They all look over with wide eyes at the guy, “Look I don’t know who you are, where I am, but I will severely hurt you if you don’t back the hell off.”</p>
<p>“Wait, so you do understand us?” Kon asks perplexed. He had the idea that he didn’t know what they were saying.</p>
<p>“I don’t know what you’re saying! Leave me alone! I’m warning you!”</p>
<p>“Kon maybe we should go.” Cassie says quietly. “He doesn’t have a translator how are we going to communicate with him? Also we’re here to do a job remember, we’re wasting our time.”</p>
<p>Kon stays silent for a moment, thinking through a few things. He knows that it’s almost pointless, how the hell do you communicate with someone who doesn’t understand you but you can understand them? But there was something inside of him telling him that this is wrong, how he needs to help this person.</p>
<p>“You two go, start loading the ship with the planks. I’ll see what I can do here. I’ll be fine.”</p>
<p>They hesitate to leave, looking between him and the figure still standing with the pole aimed at them.</p>
<p>“Guys, go.” He urges them. Eventually they go, but not before telling to yell if he needs help.</p>
<p>Once they’ve disappeared he turns back to the figure in front of him. Kon has no idea on what to do. They can’t talk to one another because the guy doesn’t understand him and it seems like anytime Kon opens his mouth, he just scares the guy even more. If he could work out what species this person was then that would help him more.</p>
<p>He puts his hands back out in front of him, to show that he wasn’t going to attempt anything or hurt him, and bends down to the ground. Using his hand he starts carving a couple different symbols into the ground. Digging up dirt and moving any rubbish he doesn’t need away. He carves three different ones, three symbols which symbolise three different species.</p>
<p>After he’s done he backs away and looks expectantly at the guy in front of him. The guy just stares back before his eyes flicker to the ground and back up again. “What? What do they mean?” Kon waits as he edges forward and really looks at them. It’s a while but eventually he’s backing away again and shaking his head. “I have no idea what they are. They look like something that witches would draw. Oh my god, are you going to sacrifice me? Or eat me!”</p>
<p>Kon blinks at him. He has no idea what a ‘witch’ was but he gapes at the guy when he says about sacrificing and being eaten. Where the hell was he from? Kon reels back to the matter at hand, so symbols were a no go. He pauses and looks around trying to find something else that could potentially help, that’s when he eyes up the damaged pod behind him.</p>
<p>Maybe Kon could pull something from there.</p>
<p>In slow, meaningful movements Kon edges his way towards the pod. The guy opposite him follows his movements closely, starts backing up as Kon moves forward, always keeping that distance between them.</p>
<p>When he reaches the pod Kon ducks inside the broken window, he’s stumped however as soon as he gets to the controls section. It’s old, like really old. The technology to build this pod was made before Kon was even alive, he has no idea who or what still uses this outdated machinery. Maybe that’s why this guy crashed in the first place, why it’s so broken and damaged, it’s too old to even be considered safe to use.</p>
<p>Deciding that it was a lost call he climbs back out and finds the guy still standing there, the pole in his hands had been lowered however but as soon as he spots Kon, it’s instantly back up in a defensive position.</p>
<p>He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He’s not getting anywhere at this rate. Maybe he should just chance trying to get this one back to his ship, once there he would have more technology at this disposal to try and work out this situation, perhaps he could even attempt to get a translator into the guy as well.</p>
<p>Deciding that’s his only option now, well he could always just force him to get on the ship but Kon has a feeling that really wouldn’t go down well. Before heading back to the ship he points at himself, “Kon-el.” He says firmly. Perhaps if the guy could call him by something that might ease a little tension away.</p>
<p>He gets a blank look in response. Kon does it again, tapping his chest, “Kon-el.”</p>
<p>“Kon-el? What does that mean? Is that some sort of code? A name?” At Kon’s nod the guys eyes widen. “Your name? Your name is Kon-el.”</p>
<p>Kon excitedly nods then, smiling as he does so. That’s the most progress he’s made so far!</p>
<p>“Okay. Okay, sure, you’re Kon-el.” Kon watches as he finally lowers the staff. Keeping one hand on it, he uses his free one to tap his own chest, just as Kon did. “Tim. My name is Tim.”</p>
<p>“Tim?” Kon tries. It’s an odd sound coming from his mouth but wasn’t too hard to pronounce. “Tim.”</p>
<p>The guy smiles and nods, thankfully that seems to be the universal gesture of ‘yes’. “That’s right. You’re Kon-el and I’m Tim.”</p>
<p>Happy that he’s finally made some progress, Kon continues to smile. Maybe this wasn’t a lost cause after all. Turning slightly, he starts walking back to where his ship was, after a couple steps he gestures to Tim to follow him.</p>
<p>Tim seems hesitant to do so. He stares at Kon with a hard expression. Kon makes the gesture again, this time a bit more harder.</p>
<p>“You want me to follow you?”</p>
<p>Kon nods and starts walking again, once he’s at the trees he realises that Tim still hasn’t followed him. He makes an agitated noise at not being followed and repeats the gesture. Kon watches as Tim looks at him, then looks at the broken pod and back again. It’s like he was debating with himself. In the end he starts slowly making his way towards Kon, following where he gone while quietly talking to himself.</p>
<p>“This is a stupid idea. I’m probably walking to my death right now. I’m going to die, this is it. But what other choice do I have. Maybe they’re friendly after all? I have no idea but by god I hope this is the right choice.”</p>
<p>Kon has no idea what Tim was on about. Who’s this ‘god’ he keeps mentioning? Once he’s satisfied that Tim was following him he starts walking through the forest again, making sure to keep in Tim’s eye sight all the time, that being the reason why he wasn’t flying back.</p>
<p>As he walks back to the ship he thinks over what just happened. He, Cassie and Bart only came to this planet to pick up the rare planks that were requested by their leaders on Krypton, but now they’ve picked up this unidentified guy as well and who knows what kind of chaos that’s going to cause.</p>
<p>He’ll have to see, hopefully Tim is willing to co-operate with them because the sooner they work out who he was and where he came from then the sooner they can get this mess sorted, hopefully all done without any damage along the way.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tim had no idea what was going on.</p>
<p>In a space (and isn’t that ironic) of what he thinks is a day, he’s gone from being a prisoner, to escaping, to crashing and now he’s following this stranger on a random planet to who knows where! </p>
<p>After a long debate in his head whether it was worth following the strange guy or not, he decides screw it. That pod he had travelled in was done for and wouldn’t be going anywhere else, so unless Tim wants to stay stranded on this unknown planet, he really had no choice but to follow this guy.</p>
<p>He kept his distance from him and followed him through what looked like a large group of trees as they travel to who knows where. </p>
<p>Communication was certainly an issue. Tim didn’t understand him, or the other two that briefly appeared, speaking in languages he had never heard of. What made it worse that all three of the strangers had different languages, yet they all seemed to understand one another just fine. The most success they had between them was sharing their names. </p>
<p>Kon-el. The guy he was following was called Kon-el. He seemed friendly enough, he was trying to make his actions clear enough for Tim to understand as he checked the pod he crashed and then the way he gestured for Tim to follow him. Maybe he wasn’t out to hurt Tim, but there was no way in hell that Tim wasn’t going to be defensive around him until he knows for certain. Just because he looks friendly doesn’t mean he truly is. </p>
<p>He grips the pole in his hands tighter as the two of them walk out into another clearing. He freezes at the tree line as he sees the space ship in front of him. It was long, silver and clearly a newly built one. It reminds Tim of a cargo plane back home, only without the wings and engines, for a moment he wonders about the mechanics of it and how it’s supposed to fly but he shakes his head before he thinks about it too much. There are more important things to worry about.</p>
<p>The ship’s back door was open and going up and down the ramp were the other two strangers he had briefly saw earlier. They were busily loading what looked like long, shiny brown planks into it from where a large stack of them where on the ground just to the side. In front of him Kon-el walks towards them, saying something in that odd language of his. </p>
<p>The other two stop to listen to him, for a moment their glances turn in his direction before they start talking back. Tim watches, bewildered at the scene. He has no idea what they were on about, but the blonde girl seems to be getting defensive while the ginger guy was simply shrugging like he didn’t see what the problem was. </p>
<p>They seem to argue for a few more minutes before Kon-el was running a hand over his hair and sighing. His shoulder’s slump and gives his friends a pleading look, though it seems to be more aimed at the blonde rather than the ginger. It seems like his look wins because the blonde suddenly throws her arms up and storms away, heading back over to where the pile of planks were stacked. </p>
<p>Tim gapes as she easily picks up the plank like it weighed nothing and takes it into the ship. He gapes because the plank was easily 7ft long and at least 5cm deep, it’s like she has super strength or something. </p>
<p>“Tim.” </p>
<p>Hearing his name he turns his attention back on Kon-el who was stood by the door next to the ginger making the gesture of him to go over. Tim hesitates to. He had no idea of what these people were capable of, he didn’t know what they were saying and his instincts were telling him to run. However knowing that nothing else was waiting for him he starts forward, clutching the pole in his hands tightly and gets prepared to use it. </p>
<p>He gets over there and stays a good few feet away. Kon-el says something to his friend who nods before turning to him. “Bart.” He says simply. Tim blinks at him, not understanding. Kon-el points to his friend, this time his tone firmer than before like he’s trying to make a point. “Bart.” </p>
<p>It takes a moment but Tim thinks he seems to get it, “His name is Bart?” The two of them nod, the ginger’s head moving at a much quicker pace than Kon-el’s. </p>
<p>Kon-el then points to him, looking at his friend, “Tim.” </p>
<p>Bart smiles and frantically waves in an over-excited way. Unsure on what else to do, Tim waves back which just makes Bart grin even more. Apparently waving is a universal sign of ‘hello’, good to know.</p>
<p>Kon-el turns and points to the blonde who was still loading the planks into the ship. “Cassie.” This time it clicks quicker. So his friends are called Bart and Cassie, that’s helpful. </p>
<p>They stand around for some time and Tim feels extremely awkward, he’s in an unknown place surrounded by people he’s never met before in a situation he has no absolute control over. It seems like they’re waiting for Cassie to finish loading the ship before continuing to do anything</p>
<p>The situation is made worse then, because the other two start speaking to one another, he couldn’t understand what they were saying but Tim certainly knows they’re talking about him from the glances they keep directing his way. He scowls and looks away. Tim doesn’t appreciate being spoken about and not understanding any of it.</p>
<p>Eventually the blonde finishes loading and the three of them talk as a group again, each of them nodding and making gestures before finally moving. Tim stands there awkwardly beside them, having no clue on what he should be doing with himself. </p>
<p>It seems like they all come to some sort of agreement because they were all nodding and then start making their way up the ramp and into the ship. Well, he sees Cassie make her way up the ship, Bart on the other hand just disappears, like one blink he was there and the next he was gone. Tim couldn’t get over that, it’s like he had the ability to teleport or something.</p>
<p>It was all very confusing. </p>
<p>Kon-el starts heading up the ramp but after a couple steps he pauses and glances back, noticing that he hadn’t followed. The guy makes the gesture of ‘follow me’ again. Tim looks away from him and around at his surroundings, one last time debating with himself whether this was a good idea or not. Swallowing hard he turns back to the ramp and starts making his way up it, being careful to maintain the distance between them.</p>
<p>Kon-el smiles at him and leads him up the ramp. Once they get to the top and were inside the ship, Kon-el pauses and turns to the wall where an electronic menu thing appears and he presses a few buttons, a moment later the door begins to rise up. Tim watches as it slowly ascends, he keeps watching until it fully shuts and locks them inside of the ship, there’s no going back now, he just hopes to god that he’s made the right choice here. </p>
<p>He turns around and finds the interior of the ship all lit up and Tim takes moment to look around. There were several storage containments alongside both walls that stretch far down the ship’s length, all of them different sizes and labelled differently. At the far end Tim could see a stairway which goes up to what he assumes is the next floor. </p>
<p>It was certainly different to the other ships he’s been on recently, however this one seems much more friendlier than the last one he had been on, but that doesn’t mean anything. Tim isn’t letting his guard down because anything could happen and he didn’t want to take that risk. </p>
<p>Kon-el starts walking down through the ship, waving at Tim to follow him as he does. Having no other choice Tim follows him. As he walks Tim finds that there are a few doors hidden between some of the containers, he didn’t see those at first and briefly wonders what they were for. Before he could think too much about it they reach the stairs and start climbing up them. </p>
<p>Tim follows Kon-el and soon finds himself walking through a door, that was on the right at the top of the stairs, and out into a corridor. This floor was completely different to the floor underneath them. A long corridor, which was filled with bright lights, stretches both ways. It has multiple doors on each side both ways and at both ends there were closed doors facing them. </p>
<p>Without hesitating Kon-el turns left and starts heading down the corridor, not knowing what else to do Tim continues to follow him. They walk past all the other doors and head for the one at the end, getting there Kon opens it up and they enter the room. </p>
<p>Tim gapes at seeing the room, it was clearly the cockpit of the ship. A large dashboard filled with millions of colourful buttons and handles filled out an entire bottom half of the wall, above that was a massive window which looked out over the planet they were currently on. Next to the dashboard were two chairs. </p>
<p>Behind that there was another two chairs with a small table between them. Then somehow the room kept going because on the other side of the room was a large round table with a few chairs around it, paper was scattered all over it and there was a whiteboard type of thing just off to the side. There was a small kitchen type of area set up in the far corner of the room by the table. </p>
<p>Tim couldn’t believe the size of this room. The ship looked small from the outside but inside it was huge! </p>
<p>Bart was in the room, currently occupying one of the second set of chairs and was eating something. Cassie was over by the whiteboard looking at whatever was on it, Tim had no idea what it was. Kon-el leaves him by the door to walk over to the dashboard, he takes a seat in one of the chairs and starts pressing multiple buttons. </p>
<p>Tim continues to look around in awe, this was nothing like the other ship he had been on. It wasn’t nearly as clean, or as high tech as this one apparently is. For a second time he wonders about all the mechanics behind this ship, wondering how it all works. </p>
<p>He must have been lost in his thoughts for a long time because suddenly there was a hand waving in his face. Startling at the sudden action Tim swings out with the pole that was still clutched in his hand. It doesn’t make contact with anything and suddenly Bart appears from nowhere just to the side of him. Tim blinks, trying to catch up with what just happened. </p>
<p>He looks wide-eyed at Bart who just looked back with a raised eyebrow. Then he starts talking and Tim is beyond lost in what he was saying, not understanding his language obviously doesn’t help but it seemed like he was talking a mile a minute and he couldn’t work out a single word he was saying. </p>
<p>From where she was standing, Cassie speaks up making Bart pause in his speech. He pouts at her who responds with her own raised eyebrow and stern look. Whatever she said to him must have gotten through because when Bart faces him again, he talks more slowly and almost looks apologetic.</p>
<p>“Tim.” </p>
<p>The call of his name gets him to glance at Kon-el from where he was sat at the dashboard. The guy meets his gaze and gestures to the chair next to the one Bart had previously been occupying. Tim could have a guess at what he was implying but didn’t move from his spot still at the door. </p>
<p>After a few beats Bart reaches forward and gently grabs his arm to tug him over to the chair. Tim jerks at the touch and tries to pull away but the ginger didn’t let up and simply dragged Tim over to the chair before pushing him down on it. </p>
<p>Tim blinks, processing what just happened. He’s briefly aware of Kon-el talking to Bart, the disappointed look on his face makes it seem like he’s scolding Bart for his actions. Bart says something back and just like that the two of them were conversing, to Tim it looked like they actually bickering but it was hard to tell.</p>
<p>Now with the attention off of him, Tim relaxes a little in the chair. It was soft and padded throughout, there was enough space to shift around if he wished to. The arm rests where wide and it even had a hole in at the end like it was a cup holder. </p>
<p>He turns his attention to the wide window and was surprised to find that they were slowly rising into the air. He didn’t even feel them take off. After seeing that a sense of panic once again came over him, he’s in a space ship with people he doesn’t know and can’t understand. Would he even be able to breathe once they were out of the atmosphere? Would they ditch him somewhere soon? Sell him off in a trade on another planet? Eat him? Probe him!?</p>
<p>Placing the pole over his lap, (the thing is his only defence at the moment and seems to be his lifeline) he buries his face in his hands. How has his life become so complicated? Who knows what’s in store for him in the next few hours and even days with this crew that had picked him up on abandoned planet. Tim has no idea if he’s prepared for it or not.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just for the record for some of this story I will be making up things, such as names of places and different items. They're not overly important, but I'm trying to build the idea that it's slightly different to Earth and what humans would be used to in a way. </p>
<p>I hope you enjoy the chapter! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Flying the ship was basically second nature at this point. Kon had been learning to fly a variety of ships since he was born and this one was no different. Of course the other two also fly it, but he prefers to be the one to handle the controls.</p>
<p>Cassie often likes to navigate them, leading them from galaxy to galaxy as they go which Kon doesn’t mind because despite being able to fly ships, his sense of direction was horrendous. Bart doesn’t tend to fly or navigate, he finds it hard to sit still for long periods of time and gets bored easily, he will fly however if Kon or Cassie aren’t around to do it.</p>
<p>With a smooth take off, Kon gets the ship into the air and expertly flies it up and out of the atmosphere. Once they were safely away from the planet and once again in space, Kon shouts over his shoulder, “Right where are we off to now Cassie? What’s the next stop on our route?”</p>
<p>His blonde team mate comes over and stands beside him, her hair falling over her shoulders as she looks down at him, “Our next stop is two galaxies away, we need to gather up 50 bags of Hydrinain Seeds from the planet Romore.” She leans over and starts pressing buttons and typing in commands on the dashboard. “That’ll be where we can restock everything we need as well, the planet has a wide range of markets we can explore.”</p>
<p>Kon nods, he’s not exactly sure how she knows that but the knowledge is helpful and useful in the best ways so he’s not going to argue against it.</p>
<p>Once she’s done with the commands he takes a moment to study them, they were simply directions that needed to be followed and different bits of data from the planet they’ve just left. Kon guides the ship for a moment before activating the autopilot. Two galaxies away is a <em>long</em> way to travel, the autopilot allows Kon to be away from the controls until they reach close to their destination.</p>
<p>“Right, autopilot is on and I’ll check it every now and again just to make sure we’re on track. We’ve got a long while to go before we reach our destination yet.” He says standing up and looking at her with a smile.</p>
<p>Cassie nods, “Yeah, also don’t forget to write the report and check in. You know they hate it when we miss check ins.”</p>
<p>Kon rolls his eyes, he hasn’t forgotten. “Yes <em>boss</em>.”</p>
<p>She opens her mouth to retort but is interrupted by Bart who appears next to them, “Guys I think he’s dead. Did he die? We killed him!”</p>
<p>They look wide eyed at Bart who had his gaze set behind them. Snapping their attention that way they find their fourth passenger slumped on one of the seats. His head was resting on his chest, which really didn’t look like a comfortable position, and he wasn’t moving.</p>
<p>Kon looks back at Bart feeling slightly panicked. “<em>Is he dead?</em>” He looks back over and sure enough he hadn’t moved in the few seconds Kon looked away. The metal pole that Tim had been carrying around was grasped loosely in his fist on his lap</p>
<p>He certainly looked dead and Kon couldn’t believe it. Tim looked fine when they picked him up off the planet, his actions and speech made him sound healthy so what happened between then and now? It wouldn’t have been to do with leaving the atmosphere because the ship has been designed to circulate every kind of element every species in existence needs to breathe, therefore meaning there’s no way he died because he couldn’t breathe.</p>
<p>“No wait! His chest just moved!” Cassie blurts out, hitting them both as if to get their attention. Kon narrows his eyes at Tim’s chest but couldn’t see any movement.</p>
<p>“You sure Cass because I can’t see it.”</p>
<p>Cassie hits him again and looks at him, “Why don’t you use your hearing to see if his heart is still beating.”</p>
<p>Kon pauses and blinks. He hadn’t thought of that. He completely forgot he could even do that to begin with. Now feeling stupid he rubs his head with embarrassment, he had been too panicked to even think of it.</p>
<p>He focuses his hearing on Tim and moments later hears a steady beat. It was slow but firm enough to be deemed alive. Kon turns back to the others with a sigh of relief, “He’s alive and his heart is beating, it’s just slow, maybe because he’s apparently unconscious?”</p>
<p>“So he’s just sleeping?” Bart asks vibrating on the spot, looking between them all. “That’s an awfully weird place to fall asleep, how is that possible? But that’s great to know, at least we haven’t killed him!”</p>
<p>The three of them go quiet for a moment watching as Tim ‘sleeps’. It’s odd thing to see considering none of them three really need to sleep at all. It isn’t an unknown thing to them, just one of a rarity. Bart needs to sleep the most out of all of them but that’s for only a really short time before he’s back up bouncing around. He and Cassie hardly sleep at all, like once every four days maybe, probably longer. Their species aren’t really designed to rest like that.</p>
<p>It’s probably to do with Tim’s own species, once they work out what he was then that would give them some answers. Whatever Tim is, why did their ‘resting’ have to look like they were dead? There are lots of other ways to rest without looking like he had died.</p>
<p>“Bart go poke him. Wake him up.” Cassie tells him, nudging the ginger towards the slumped figure.</p>
<p>“Why me? Why can’t you do it?” Bart pouts.</p>
<p>“Just do it.”</p>
<p>Kon snorts in amusement as Bart heads over to Tim without further protest, he always gives in way to easily.</p>
<p>The two of them watch as their friend steps up beside Tim, clearly trying to work out the best way to wake him. In the end he stands just to the side of Tim and reaches out to poke his shoulder with a finger. When the first poke achieves nothing he does it again this time firmer. For a second time nothing happens. They hear Bart huff in annoyance before he changes tactics and simply <em>shoves</em> Tim with his hand, nearly pushing him out of the chair as he does so.</p>
<p>With a shout that startles them all, Tim snaps awake and jumps to his feet. His hand grips that metal pole tighter and he takes a swing at open air. It was a good thing Bart was a speedster because he would have been smacked right in the face if he hadn’t of moved out of swinging range quick enough.</p>
<p>The three of them stare with wide eyes as Tim frantically looks around for the threat. Kon takes a note on how tense he was now and even how fast his heart was beating, it was such a contrast to moments before.</p>
<p>After what feels like forever Tim seems to come back to himself, he meets their gazes and frowns. This time looking around more cautiously, as if trying to remember what happened. He lets out a quiet sound and drops his defensive position he had gotten into after jumping out of the chair, the pole falls to his side as he runs a hand over his head.</p>
<p>“Uh sorry. I, um, I forgot what happened for a moment. Did I fall asleep, cause that wasn’t supposed to happen, I guess I was just really tired, it’s been a long day and a lots happened, plus that chair is actually really comfy. And I’m rambling so I’m just going to shut up now…”</p>
<p>Tim snaps his mouth closed and looks at them apprehensively. There was an edge to him that Kon picked up on but he couldn’t work out what it was. He was still on the defensive side despite appearing relaxed, the grip on the pole hadn’t loosened even though it was down by his side.</p>
<p>Maybe he was scared? If that was it, Kon could totally understand because it was a scary thing to wake up not really knowing where you are or who you’re with. This isn’t exactly a normal scenario, if Kon was in his position he would probably be scared too.</p>
<p>He feels bad for Tim but was unsure on how to help. It’s not like he would be able to understand him considering their language difference and how Tim doesn’t have a translator.</p>
<p>Kon turns to his friends who turn to him at the same time. Cassie was frowning, “You brought him on here Kon, you help him.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know what to do! He’s scared, doesn’t trust us and is unable to understand us!” Of course he knew this when he convinced the others to agree to let Tim on bored but it’s now only really hitting how hard this actually could be.</p>
<p>Bart shrugs, “Why don’t we offer him something? Like a peace offering to show we don’t mean any harm. He just said he was tried and since he sleeps why don’t we offer him a safe place to rest? After that we can try and work out where he’s from.”</p>
<p>Kon scratches his head, “I guess. You go and lie down to rest don’t you? So he would need a bed to rest comfortably?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, he could have one of our rooms or even the seats down in the common room?”</p>
<p>“That could work, he may feel more at ease when he can relax comfortably.”</p>
<p>Kon turns back to face Tim who was staring at them with an intense expression on his face, like he was desperately trying to work out what they were saying. Kon would love to be able to clearly communicate with him but unfortunately they don’t have the right equipment in order to perform the procedure needed to implant a translator. That’ll have to be something they look into soon.</p>
<p>Kon heads for the exit and gestures for Tim to follow him. Once at the door he opens it up and waits for Tim to join him. As he’s done the last few times, Tim hesitates as he looks around at everything before finally moving. Kon sends him friendly smile and repeats the gesture before walking down the corridor to the opposite end where the common room was.</p>
<p>They reach the other end of the corridor and Kon opens up the door before walking through it, he keeps it open to allow Tim to enter after him. Understanding that Tim will look around at the surroundings first, Kon gives him some time before encouraging him further into the room.</p>
<p>It wasn’t anything special, the room was designed as a place to chill that wasn’t their own personal rooms or the cock pit. One side of the wall held a large universal transmitter screen which allows them to access any form of entertainment from around the galaxy they were currently in. Just opposite that was a long comfy seat, it stretches across the room and curls in at the ends creating an arc like shape. It was great for lying down on and resting.</p>
<p>Behind the seat, just opposite the door, was a large rectangular table was designed for multi purposes. The three of them use it for everything, games, a place to eat at or even a desk when they need to work and don’t want to be in the cock pit. After the table there was a large kitchen set up, with counters, storage places, cookers, coolers and it was all stocked with a wide variety of food. A long thin window was just next to the kitchen area which allows they to see out into space.</p>
<p>After several moments Kon points to the seat. Tim blinks at him, clearly not understanding. Sighing, Kon firmly points at Tim before pointing to the seat again. Tim continues to look at him but then his eyes flicker to the seat before coming back again.</p>
<p>He still looked like he was unsure on what Kon wanted. Kon pinches his nose in frustration, why was it so hard? Either he was terrible at getting his message across in gestures or Tim was incredibly stupid. He thinks for a moment before getting an idea.</p>
<p>Walking over to the seat, he jumps over the back of it and sits down on the plushy material. He sprawls out over it and leans his head back to mimic what Tim had been like earlier in the cock pit. After a few seconds he gets back up and looks expectantly at Tim, hoping he finally gets what he’s trying to tell him.</p>
<p>The guy raises an eyebrow, looking just as confused at before, “Are you saying I can sleep here? On this sofa?”</p>
<p>Kon doesn’t know what a sofa is, but if he means this seat then yes. At least he gets it! Kon smiles and nods is answer.</p>
<p>Tim makes a face of understanding, letting out a little “oh” as he does. He rubs the back of his neck smiling slightly, “Uh, thank you. I guess this is better than being upright in a chair.”</p>
<p>Now getting up from the seat, Kon nods again and gestures to Tim to take his place, he assumes Tim would feel more at ease if he wasn’t close by. Just as Tim begins to walk over and as Kon walks away a loud rumbling sound could be heard.</p>
<p>Kon straightens up and looks around for the source because that wasn’t right. He’s never heard such a noise before. It happens a second time and he feels himself getting worked up. Had something gotten onto the ship without them knowing? He’s going to need to alert the others as soon as possible because if it was a threat then they would need to fight it off.</p>
<p>Opposite him, now standing by the seat Tim makes a harsh noise and smacks his stomach, “Oh shush….”</p>
<p>Kon stares at him confused, especially when that rumbling sound could be heard again. Was that sound coming from Tim? What kind of species makes that kind of noise?</p>
<p>After hitting his stomach a second time, Tim looks up and meets Kon confused stare. He blinks as if surprised to find Kon looking at him, red appears across his face and he smiles shyly, “Uh sorry. Its been a little while since I’ve eaten, my stomach is just being annoyingly noisy.”</p>
<p>So that noise <em>was</em> coming from him. But from his stomach? He doesn’t understand that, did all different parts of his body make different sounds then? That was oddly strange. Tim was from a strange species.</p>
<p>After the initial shock of Tim’s stomach apparently making noises, Kon’s mind catches up with what he had said. He hadn’t eaten in a while, which implies Tim was hungry. Was his stomach making that rumbling noise because he was hungry? Kon would ask him, but sadly can’t because Tim wouldn’t understand him.</p>
<p>He glances over at the kitchen and holds a finger up to Tim before darting over there. He’s sure there’s something for him to eat. Not knowing what species Tim was makes it harder to know what he can and can’t eat but there surely will be something.</p>
<p>He rummages through the cupboards and cooler until he finds something. While he could make something with various of ingredients he figures Tim would want something packaged because of his trust issues at the moment, which was understandable.</p>
<p>In the end he finds and gives Tim a packet of dried out flat bites. They were from Cassie’s planet but they were a decent snack, he’s sure Tim wouldn’t mind them. He also gets Tim a bottle of water, nearly every species needs water so hopefully Tim’s does to.</p>
<p>Walking back over to where Tim was still standing, who had been wearily watching him, he holds the items out for the guy to take. Tim blinks at him for a moment before moving to place that metal pole down and grab the items from his hands.</p>
<p>“Thank you. You didn’t have to but thanks.”</p>
<p>Kon nods and smiles, he gestures to the seat once again before motioning to the door. Without further prompting Kon leaves the room, leaving Tim to do whatever he needs to, hopefully he’ll feel a little more at ease now in his own space and with some food at hand.</p>
<p>He walks back to the cock pit and finds the two others around the table looking over some papers. “This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.” He declares loudly while walking over to them and slumping down in a chair.</p>
<p>Cassie snorts, “Why am I not surprised?”</p>
<p>Bart simply looks curious, “What happened?”</p>
<p>“Well communication is difficult, we’ll need to look into that by the way, understanding gestures takes a little longer than it should. Also his stomach made a weird rumbling noise. I’ve never heard anything like it and actually thought something had snuck onto the ship before realising it was just coming from him.”</p>
<p>Bart pulls a face, making a “huh” sound and Cassie raises an eyebrow in question. “What was the rumbling noise?”</p>
<p>“I think it was because he was hungry. He smacked himself and told his stomach to be quiet so I’m not entirely sure. Maybe something else lives inside of him?” Kon says cocking his head to the side thinking about it. “I gave him your flat bites Cass, I hope you don’t mind. It’s hard to know what he can and can’t eat at the moment.”</p>
<p>She waves the comment off, clearly not bothered by it. “We really ought to work out what species he is if he’s going to be staying with us. While you were dealing with him, Bart and I started to go through our archives looking at what we have to try and figure it out. We used that he doesn’t have a translator as a starting point.” She tells him.</p>
<p>Kon perks up at hearing that, he straightens up in his seat and peers at the papers on the table, “What have you got so far?”</p>
<p>“Well in the short amount of time we’ve been looking we’ve been able to narrow it down to basically one option. We did consider him potentially being an Atlantean but he doesn’t show any signs of gills or webbed fingers so we ruled that option out.” Cassie explains looking at him. “We could be wrong though, his Caucasian skin makes it a bit harder to specifically work out what he is.”</p>
<p>Bart jumps in then, “We think Tim is a Human Being. Which is awesome because I’ve always wanted to meet a Human!”</p>
<p>Kon’s eyes go wide at hearing that. A Human Being? Was that even possible? “Are you sure?” He questions them.</p>
<p>Cassie sends him a knowing look, “We know what you’re thinking and we thought the exact same thing, but it’s the only option that makes sense.”</p>
<p>Kon frowns thinking about it. Humans are rare to find out in the galaxy. They’re considered to be one of the lowest species in existence at the moment because of how under developed they are. Kon’s never met one before but he’s heard a few stories about them and what they’re capable of. No one has much knowledge on them because they’ve barely made it into space travel, so you wouldn’t find them anywhere but on their own planet where they originate from.</p>
<p>However, Kon <em>does know</em> that Humans haven’t yet discovered the universal translator that every species has. It allows them all to communicate with no problems as it automatically translates any language into your own. Humans haven’t explored enough of the galaxy yet to have come across this, so if Tim was in fact a human, his lack of translator would make more sense.</p>
<p>Apart from that and what he’s heard, Kon doesn’t know a lot about the species. “How much information do we know about Humans, because my knowledge on them is very limited.”</p>
<p>Cassie sighs and sits back in her chair, “All I know is that they are a high maintenance species. Those who had talked about Humans on Themyscira used to all complain about how needy and underdeveloped they were. I didn’t learn anything besides that.”</p>
<p>Bart was nearly vibrating form where he was sat. “I know that they aren’t as developed as the rest of us are but my grandpa talked about how he once met one and what it was like and I’ve always wanted to meet one since! If Tim really is a Human Being then we should take this opportunity to learn about him, this is totally going to be crash!”</p>
<p>Kon shakes his head in amusement over Bart’s enthusiasm to the situation. It doesn’t help them much but it’s something that’s not hatred at least.</p>
<p>“Assuming that Tim is a Human then, do we have anything about the species in the archives?”</p>
<p>“Some,” Cassie tosses a small file over to him. It couldn’t have more than six pages in it but it’s better than nothing.</p>
<p>“Looks like we’ve got some reading to do then.” Kon says. At least this will help them understand Tim a bit more. And Kon isn’t going to lie, he’s curious to see how different Tim is and what a Human Being is like to be around. He’s never been in the presence of one, so if their interactions so far are anything to go by, this will be interesting.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I apologise that it seems to be going slow at the moment, it's still story building and creating backgrounds for the characters. It will start to pick up soon I promise! If you're still reading this, thank you and hopefully I can keep your interest in the up coming chapters!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tim stares at the food on the table in front of him in deep thought.</p>
<p>He felt exhausted, but was too on edge to try and sleep. He’s starving, but didn’t know whether to trust the food in front of him. He felt so out of place that all he wanted to do was cry, but he knows that it wouldn’t do anything</p>
<p>Tim misses his life back home. He misses knowing how everything works, he misses being able to communicate easily, his friends and even his family.</p>
<p>He’s not sure how long it’s been since he was taken away from them as trying to keep track of time in space was difficult. It happened to be very early into his kidnapping that he lost track of the time and hasn’t been able to work it out since. It could have been days, months or even years, he just simply didn’t know.</p>
<p>It feels like everything that’s happened has been completely out of his control. He was forced away from his family and friends, taken away from his life and forced to live as some kind of prisoner and slave in <em>space </em>which is supposed to be impossible. The only thing he was able to control was his escape from that toxic lifestyle. Tim was able to finally sneak away and successfully hijack an escape pod which freed him from his captives.</p>
<p>It was a short victory that didn’t last long as he once again lost control when he crashed onto some random planet and destroyed the pod. Now here he was, on another spaceship with other aliens, unsure on what to do. Could he trust them? They seemed friendly enough, not wanting to harm him just yet and they even offered him food and water.</p>
<p>He’s annoyed at himself for falling asleep back in the cockpit, his defences dropped because of his body’s exhaustion. When they had woken him up Tim had panicked and thought that his captives had somehow found him until he realised that it wasn’t them, how it actually was just the three random guys who picked him up.</p>
<p>Burying his face in his hands Tim groans, “God this is so fucked up,” he mutters miserably to himself.</p>
<p>When he straightens back up his stomach once again grumbles at his hunger. Tim eyes the food Kon-el had given to him and decides to give in. It couldn’t be too bad if it was all packaged and concealed right?</p>
<p>He opens the packet up, takes one of them out and inspects it suspiciously, they looked like plain square crackers. He gives them a quick sniff to find they don’t smell like anything. Cautiously, Tim bites a corner off and chews it. To his surprise it tasted fine, a little plain but he’ll take that for now.</p>
<p>Tim ends up eating seven of them, basically half the packet. He only stops because he feels guilty for eating that many. While it’s helped ease his stomach he was still hungry for more. When was the last time he ate? He can’t even remember, so much as happened recently that it’s just one of thing he’s pushed to the side.</p>
<p>After eating and drinking (the bottle was simply just water) he sits back on the couch and debates on what to do now. He felt too tense and alert to try and go to sleep despite how tired he felt. He didn’t want to wonder around the ship (he really did want to though) just in case they got mad and took it the wrong way.</p>
<p>Looking around the room Tim freezes when he sees a long thin window that stretched from the floor to the ceiling off to the side of the supposedly kitchen area. Tim gets up off the sofa and walks over to the window, curiously looking out of it.</p>
<p>Even though he’s been in space for what feels like forever, he’s actually never had the chance to <em>look</em> at space. Tim had always been kept in a contained room with no windows and only one door. Escaping in the pod was his first proper time at seeing space but even then he didn’t get the chance to study it, he was too busy running for his life.</p>
<p>Now though he gets the chance to observe the black void that everyone knows surrounds them but very few actually see. He sits down on the floor and leans against the windowpane, staring out into the darkness and lets himself get lost in his thoughts once again.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Tim startles when a noise comes behind him. He smacks his head on the window and spins around in a panic to find the girl, Cassie he remembers, standing there looking at him. He hisses and rubs the side of his head and looks at her with wide-eyes, she simply raises an eyebrow at him probably for the behaviour.</p>
<p>He sends her a forced smile and stands up. He was stiff and his ass was numb from being sat down on the floor for who knows how long. Tim looks at her expectantly, wondering what she wanted. Tim hadn’t even realised she walked into the room until she made the noise to get his attention.</p>
<p>Without even trying to be subtle she looks him up and down, her gaze was intense and it made Tim feel uncomfortable. After a long moment, she turns around and gestures him to follow her as she walks away. Tim follows her wordlessly, however he makes a quick detour to grab the metal pole he had left on the sofa before walking out of the door behind Cassie.</p>
<p>Out of the three apparent crew members, Cassie is the one who seems to be the least happiest with his presence, which is fair enough but it does make Tim feel like he needs to be the most weariest of her.</p>
<p>They begin to walk down the long corridor and Tim expected them to go to the other end where the cockpit was, that’s why he almost bumps into Cassie when she suddenly stops walking only about a quarter the way in. Tim takes a quick step back to keep the space between them and she shoots him an odd look, clearly judging his behaviour again.</p>
<p>Cassie opens the door and walks inside, Tim peers in before following her. He blinks in surprise when they walk into something that resembles a bathroom. It has a sink and toilet against one wall. Adjacent to that was a shower stall and on the third wall was a large cupboard with shelves built into it and a towel rail with three different coloured towels on it.</p>
<p>Seeing the toilet suddenly made Tim very aware of his bladder, he hadn’t realised how much he needed to go until now.</p>
<p>Cassie walks over to the shower stall and opens it up before stepping inside it, pokes her head out and gestures to Tim. Tim blinks at her, completely unsure of where this is going. Surely she wasn’t expecting them too…. y’know….</p>
<p>When he doesn’t move Cassie glares at him, she speaks at him and makes her gesture firmer. Not wanting to anger her even more Tim quickly scurries across the bathroom and stands by the shower stall.</p>
<p>To his pleasant surprise she shows him how to work the shower, shows him what bottle is shampoo and what is body wash and hands him the yellow towel that was hanging up. So thankfully it wasn’t what he had initially been thinking because that would have been awful.</p>
<p>“Uh thanks, I appreciate it,” he says to her. By now he’s got the impression that they understand what he’s saying despite him not understanding them.</p>
<p>Cassie sends him a smile before reaching out and tugging on the shirt he was wearing and unable to help it, Tim jerks away from her in surprise. Not seeming to be offended by the unintentional action Cassie simply rolls her eyes and mutters something in that strange language of hers. After a beat she shakes her head, says something else before leaving the shower stall to head for the door.</p>
<p>Tim watches her go, feeling confused at what just happened. Before leaving the room, Cassie turns back to him and makes a ‘shooing’ motion with her hands as if to say <em>‘go on then’</em> and then finally exits the bathroom, leaving Tim all alone again.</p>
<p>Deciding to go with it, he props the pole up against the wall and undresses. Like a lot of other things, he’s only just realising that he’s still dressed in the clothes he had escaped in. It was a simple loose t-shirt, sweatpants, and a pair of socks. He had stolen the clothes from one of the crew members on that other ship and had gotten dressed into them before making his escape. He changed out of his prisoner ones in hopes to blend in with the crew when they weren’t on duty.</p>
<p>He undresses, goes toilet, and proceeds to have what is probably the best shower in his life. The water on his skin just felt so good and it felt heavenly to be clean again. He hadn’t realised how much he missed it. Showering and general hygiene was just another thing that pushed to the side.</p>
<p>However his bliss was interrupted when the bathroom door opens. He freezes on the spot as he sees Cassie walking in, he curses himself for not even thinking about trying to find a lock on the door. He’s quick to cover himself up as best as he can as she walks in, it didn’t matter though because she pays him no attention what so ever as she places what looks like clothes on the towel rail before leaving again.</p>
<p>After that Tim is quick to finish up. He steps out the shower, dries off and changes into the clean clothes Cassie had brought in. A satisfied sound leaves him as he realises that the clothes fit almost perfectly, in the back of his mind he wonders about how she knew his size but he tries to not let those thoughts ruin his moment of being in clean clothes.</p>
<p>Tim was now dressed in a lemon yellow t-shirt, grey sweatpants and neon green socks (which didn’t go but he wasn’t going to complain), she had also brought him clean underwear but he skips out on those just for his own peace of mind. As gross as it is he stays in his own.</p>
<p>Once done, he wraps his stuff up in the towel and walks out of the bathroom. He looks up and down the corridor with uncertainty, where would she be? He soon makes the decision to head for the cockpit, figuring out that’s his best option.</p>
<p>He walks in to find the whole crew there. Cassie was at the dashboard while Kon-el and Bart were sat at the table looking over pieces of paper. They all up look once he enters and Tim sends them an awkward smile, he hates being the centre of attention.</p>
<p>From the dashboard Cassie gets up and makes her way over to him, holding her arms up and gestures to the pile of fabric in Tim’s arms. He hands them all over to her who simply leaves the room without any words.</p>
<p>“Tim.”</p>
<p>His attention turns away from Cassie’s retreating form to face Kon-el who had called him. As Tim walks over to the table the alien silently slides over a bit of paper to him and leans back in his chair, clearly waiting for Tim’s reaction. Tim places the pole down on the table, sits down in the empty chair next to Kon-el and picks up the paper looking it over.</p>
<p>While Tim couldn’t understand the text, he certainly understood the imagery. On the top there was a picture of Earth, below it was a labelled diagram of human figures, male and female. On the back of the sheet was a long bullet pointed list.</p>
<p>Tim glances at Kon-el, not quite getting what the alien wanted from him. “Um, it’s a picture of Earth?” He says after a moment.</p>
<p>Kon-el firmly nods, he then points at Tim and then the picture.</p>
<p>Tim struggles to decipher what he’s trying to communicate. “Is that my Earth?” He pauses before realising it, “Oh! Am I from Earth?”</p>
<p>The alien nods again, smiling.</p>
<p>Tim frowns and opens his mouth to speak but stops himself. He was about to say something like ‘well duh, where else would I be from’ but then remembers where he was and how irrelevant that comment would have been. He swallows and glances at Kon-el, “Yeah, I’m from Earth.” A beat goes by, “And I’m male for the record. A human male from planet Earth.”</p>
<p>That was a sentence he never thought he would have to say in a serious manner.</p>
<p>Opposite them Bart shoots upright in his chair, suddenly looking very excited. He starts talking in that superfast way of his and Tim blinks feeling perplexed. Kon-el seems to snap at him which causes Bart to calm down and then they’re chatting away with one another.</p>
<p>Cassie walks in that moment, she comes to the table, takes a spare seat by Bart and simply slots into the conversation. It takes a while, but they seem to eventually remember that Tim was there with them and gives him some of their attention.</p>
<p>Grabbing another piece of paper, Kon-el draws on it for a moment before turning it around for Tim to see. Across the page in a line were several circles. The first and last circles both had an arrow pointing down above them, Tim notices how the last circle is drawn to look like Earth.</p>
<p>He takes a wild guess, “I’m going to say that the first circle is us and the last circle is Earth?” He pauses to look up, finding Kon-el’s nodding head he continues guessing, “Perhaps the circles in the middle are other planets?”</p>
<p>He gets a hand wiggle for that guess, it was like saying <em>‘eh, kind of</em>’. Kon-el draws curved lines between the circles all with arrows indicating the motion of moving onto the next.</p>
<p>“The other planets are stop off points?” He guesses a second time, this earns him another nod.</p>
<p>Tim feels his heart starting to beat quicker as hope begins to rise up inside of him. “Are you saying that you guys can get me home? You need to make these stop off points but you can get to Earth?”</p>
<p>He looks at them all with wide eyes, this is the best news he’s heard in a long time. A chance to finally be able to get <em>home</em>. He couldn’t ask for more.</p>
<p>Several beats of silence go by and Tim really tries to not let that get to him. He’s on the edge of his seat looking at the three of them desperately. However, dread starts to stir inside of him as the crew members all share a frown.</p>
<p>“Tim.”</p>
<p>His head snaps to Cassie who was looking at him almost mournfully. She opens her mouth to speak again but soon closes it, she tries a second time before stopping herself once again. Her look changes to one of frustration, clearly angry at the inability to easily communicate with him.</p>
<p>Next to her, Bart quickly says something and in a blink of an eye disappears. By the time Tim had gotten over the fact he simply vanished Bart was back again. He leans over the table and places something in front of Tim.</p>
<p>It’s a watch. An old antique watch. Tim shakes his head, frowning, “What’s a watch got to do with anything?” Bart leans over again and taps the watches face. Tim scowls and leans back in the chair, frustrated. “What do you mean? A watch face? A hand? Numbers? The time?”</p>
<p>Bart nods after he finishes the sentence.</p>
<p>“So time, what? It’s… going to take time to get to Earth, is that what you’re saying?”</p>
<p>Bart nods again but this adds a hand gesture, as if saying ‘<em>keep going’. </em>Tim rubs a hand over his face, god it’s like playing the most frustrating game of charades.</p>
<p>“It’s going to take <em>lots</em> of time to get to Earth?”</p>
<p>Bart smiles and puts his thumbs up in agreement. Tim blinks at him, on the inside he was desperately holding onto the small amount of hope still there. “How long are we talking. Days, weeks, months, even years?”</p>
<p>All three of them shrug and look regretful. Tim attempts process this. So he wasn’t going home and won’t be for a<em> long time</em> by the looks of it. Why did he even let himself hope for it? Of course life wasn’t that simple.</p>
<p>“Fuck!” In rage he smacks the table in front of him. The others jump at the action, but Tim doesn’t pay them any attention as he buries his face in his hands and lets out a strangled noise. It’s not fair.</p>
<p>After a moment he sits back up and glares at the table. Normally he would be embarrassed with his behaviour, especially since he wasn’t one to lose his temper so quickly, but right now he couldn’t find it in himself to care. They didn’t know him so it doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>He could feel himself getting overwhelmed, he could feel it building up inside of his chest threatening to break free. While showing anger was one thing, breaking down and crying was another. Before he completely loses it Tim stands up from the table, refuses to make eye contact with anyone as he announces, “I’m going to go in the other room again. Thanks… I guess.”</p>
<p>Before any of them could react Tim grabs the pole and exits the cockpit. He loses the battle against the tears as he was walking down the corridor and he loses the battle to stay composed once he reaches the other room. He goes back by the window, slides down the wall and just breaks.</p>
<p>Despite how much he doesn’t want it to, all of the emotions he’s kept bottled up ever since being kidnapped and until now, all comes spilling out in one big horrible mess.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I just want to say thank you to everyone for the kudos and comments, every single one is appreciated and it's wonderful to know people are reading this and enjoying it! </p>
<p>I hope you enjoy the chapter! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A heavy silence lingers between the three of them once Tim leaves the room. They all look at one another, all sharing the same expression of shock and confusion.</p>
<p>Telling Tim that they wouldn’t be going to Earth anytime soon didn’t go very well. They had expected Tim to be sad about the news, but Kon has to admit he didn’t expect that strong of a reaction to it. Neither did the other two going by the look on their faces.</p>
<p>“Well, that was intense.” Bart comments after a while. “Did you expect that strong of a reaction because I did not. It was like a switch was turned on and he suddenly got angry but then it looked like he was going to cry. Wait, do humans cry, is that a thing for them? How is it possible to go from one emotion to another so fast?”</p>
<p>Kon shrugs but his attention was on the door which Tim just walked through. He didn’t take the news well at all, which was understandable, but also concerning.</p>
<p>“Without being able to communicate with him easily, it’s hard to explain that Earth is <em>galaxies</em> away from us right now. It’s going to take a really long time to get there.” Cassie speaks up, as she pauses she frowns but then her expression changes to a stern one which she pins on him and Bart, “But that’s saying even <em>if</em> we go to Earth. Remember we’re on a job and have our duties to fulfil. The human just happens to be an extra to the trip.”</p>
<p>Kon frowns. Of course he knows that. It’s hard to forget what he was doing in the first place however there was just something about Tim that screamed at Kon for him to help the human. Tim looked so scared and broken, it hurt Kon to look at him sometimes.</p>
<p>“It’ll be fine,” he says in the end, “We can still get our jobs done and get back to Krypton on time. I can’t see Tim being an inconvenience. As Bart said earlier, it’s also an opportunity to learn about humans. We can decide to make our way to Earth afterwards if we wish to.”</p>
<p>Bart shrugs and smiles, Kon just knows he’s excited to have another species on board, particularly one that isn’t common around this part of the galaxy. Cassie frowns like she’s unhappy with the idea but ends up shrugging.</p>
<p>“If this blows up or the leaders decide to do something about Tim, that’s on you.”</p>
<p>Kon nods understanding but he’s pretty confident that nothing will happen with Tim around. At the moment he seems pretty harmless and according to what he’s read so far, humans don’t have any special abilities so he wasn’t too much of a danger to them yet. He doesn’t want to underestimate Tim but he seems to be harmless.</p>
<p>After a moment Cassie goes back over to the dashboard, Bart simply disappears from sight and Kon collects up the file on the table. It’s something he’s going to be referring to a lot from now on until he gets a good read on Tim.</p>
<p>Leaving the file on the table, Kon leaves the cockpit and heads for the common room. He wants to check on Tim. As Bart pointed out, he had a strong reaction to the news and Kon just wants to make sure he hasn’t done anything in spite of that. Who knows how humans react to bad news?</p>
<p>He walks into the common room and is met with silence. From a glance around it seemed to be empty as Tim wasn’t on the sofa where Kon suggested he sleep, nor was he sat at the table in the centre of the room. Kon frowns and steps further into the room, perhaps Tim wasn’t in here after all, he could have wondered off looking at other parts of the ship, or he could have gone to the restroom.</p>
<p>A small sound ends up getting his attention, he turns his head in the direction it came from which was by the kitchen area. The sound happens again and Kon tenses up at not knowing what it was. It sounded high pitched and even painful.</p>
<p>Kon takes caution as he steps towards the kitchen, working his way around the table until he has clear view of it. He freezes and blinks at the sight which greets him. Tim was there curled up tightly on the floor with his arms hugging his knees as he leans against the long thin window. After a couple seconds the sound happens again and Kon sees the way Tim’s body seems to twitch as the sound happens.</p>
<p>How does he make so many different sounds? First his stomach making that grumbling sound and now this high pitched one. Strange. He wonders what this new sound implies, like the grumbling meant Tim was hungry so what was this one about?</p>
<p>He steps closer to Tim to get a better look at the human. “Tim?” He wanted to try and get his attention gently, he certainly remembers the way he had jerked awake after Bart woke him up in the cockpit earlier and doesn’t want a repeat of that. The human doesn’t react to his name so Kon tries again but still doesn’t get anything. He steps closer, now in almost touching distance, and crouches down.</p>
<p>It’s only then that Kon realises that Tim is asleep. Where his head was resting on his knees, Kon could see his face and he could see the way his eyes were closed and he could hear how slow Tim’s heart was beating.</p>
<p>Studying Tim’s face further he could see that his skin was red and how he had two lines going down his cheeks that appear to have come from his eyes. Had he been crying? Was Bart right about humans being able to cry?</p>
<p>Kon debates about what to do with Tim, he was asleep and didn’t want to disturb him (especially when that pole was in range and he’s already seen how Tim reacts to being woken up) but he can’t exactly leave him on the floor because that surely couldn’t be comfy. How had Tim even fallen asleep there in the first place? First it was in the chair and now it was on the floor against the window.</p>
<p>In the end Kon decides to risk it and gently moves to pick him up. He carefully untangles Tim from his tight position and slips one arm under his legs while the other supports the human’s back. He extends his telekinesis so he can support Tim’s head and neck as he picks him up.</p>
<p>Kon is shocked with how light Tim is when he lifts him off the ground. He wasn’t expecting Tim to be heavy as such, but he certainly wasn’t expecting him to be incredibly light, and that’s without even using his powers!</p>
<p>Getting over that fact, he walks over to the chair and places him carefully down on the plush material. Tim makes that high-pitched noise again and moves around on the chair, he moves around so much that Kon has to snap his hand out to stop him from rolling off the side. After a few moments it seems like Tim settles and continues to sleep. How he didn’t wake up, Kon has no idea but he’ll just leave him be and allow him to rest.</p>
<p>According to what he’s already read, humans need a lot of sleep to be able to function, they need something like eight hours worth of sleep. That’s crazy to even think about, <em>eight hours, </em>it seems such like a long time but apparently it allows their bodies to rest enough to be able to function for the time they spend awake.</p>
<p>Strange indeed.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The following days after picking up Tim are certainly odd. The days bring all kinds of learning to the table, a whole new level of frustration which they were not prepared for and surprisingly a fair amount of amusement.</p>
<p>Tim was an odd creature. At first he was very quiet, seemed extremely skittish and would look terrified whenever one of them tried to communicate with him. He always stayed out the way as much as possible though they could see how intrigued he was by everything on the ship. His eyes would stare at something for a long period of time before focusing on something else, a strange kind of expression usually crosses his face when that happens.</p>
<p>They have also come to learn that Tim was a creature of habit. It was like he unconsciously followed a routine; he would fall asleep somewhere (they’ve been finding him all over the place which is another story in itself) and then after waking up he would go to the restroom, then he would go looking for food before finally wondering around looking a little lost. This would repeat daily.</p>
<p>It’s not a lot to go on but he and the others are beginning to see what humans are like and they’re learning from Tim.</p>
<p>Communication was still a major issue and one they really need to try and get sorted once they reach the next planet. Tim could talk all he wanted and they could understand him, however when they try to reciprocate it doesn’t go well. Tim becomes scared and often looks confused, especially when they start trying to gesture to thing to explain what they mean. It was a long and hard process but they were slowly making their way around it.</p>
<p>When they had their normal game day, they had managed to teach Tim to play a card game they all enjoy. Tim said it was like playing “uno,” of course they didn’t know what he meant but Tim was smiling so that something.</p>
<p>As days go by there’s another thing they learned about him and that’s how Tim’s mood completely changes from one thing to another. The information they have on humans tells them that humans have strong emotions and can often just go from one to another in a matter of seconds, but actually seeing it is almost unbelievable.</p>
<p>At one-point Tim was smiling and even laughing but moments later he was scowling and glaring at the wall in front of him like he hated it with a serious passion. They don’t know what caused the sudden change but it happened and they just have to go with it and after some very intense moments, they’ve come to learn to leave Tim alone when he gets like that.</p>
<p>Sometimes following his “dark moods”, as they’ve come to name them, Tim seeks out solitude and sits down by the window in the common room. Whenever one of them approaches him to see if he was alright he would violently lash out with that pole of his and tell them to back off and leave him alone. It would be from an hour to nearly a whole day for Tim to come out of the dark mood and be back to what they deem as normal for him.</p>
<p>Humans are very intense.</p>
<p>Eating was another learning curve. Tim frowned at nearly everything they gave him, he often stared at it as if questioning its existence before sniffing it and taking a tiny bite of the food. Sometimes it would be alright and Tim would happily eat it with no problems but there’s been a couple times when he’s reacted badly to what they’ve given him.</p>
<p>The paper says that humans need regular intervals of food and at healthy amounts so they try to accommodate Tim as best as they can. Sometimes he would refuse but then his stomach makes that weird growly noise and then they force him to eat because that growly noise didn’t mean anything good. Apparently humans can die if they don’t eat and they don’t want Tim to die.</p>
<p>There's so much to learn about Tim and his presence on board makes every day interesting. Kon still doesn’t regret picking him up, Bart is vibrating with excitement all the time when he’s around Tim and while Cassie was at first weary of him, she’s slowly warming up to him.</p>
<p>However around a week later after picking Tim up, they arrive at their next stop. After getting the alert on approaching the planet’s atmosphere, they gather in the cockpit and Kon expertly guides them through until they safely touch down in the designated area for space ships.</p>
<p>Romore is actually inhibited by a variety of species and is often a stop off point for those traveling through the galaxy. It’s a good place to stock up on supplies, make any ship repairs, to spend time off the ship and even make some trades with other travellers.</p>
<p>Once parked, they gather around the table and discuss their plans.</p>
<p>“So the actual items we need are 50 bags of Hydrinain Seeds.” Cassie tells them, “We also need to stock up on food and drink items while we’re here.”</p>
<p>“Sounds good, if I remember correctly I know who to go for to get the seeds,” Kon comments, “Why don’t I get those, you and Bart can grab stock for us?”</p>
<p>Bart brightens up like he’s just had an idea, “Oh! I’ll take Tim and show him around! We can look at all the markets!”</p>
<p>Cassie frowns, “Actually Bart I was planning on taking him with me. This can be an opportunity to get him some of his own belongings. You can, if you don’t mind, go and find a place where they do the procedure for the translator. We need to sort this communication issue out.”</p>
<p>Kon feels bad for Bart as he deflates, but soon enough he was smiling again and readily agreeing to the task. The three of them get ready to leave while Tim sits by watching them all carefully. Kon takes a moment to double check the planet’s atmosphere, he wants to be sure it’s safe for Tim to go out onto the planet.</p>
<p>On the human list he’s been reading it says they need oxygen to breathe, luckily it’s the same chemical that Bart needs too, so if it’s safe for Bart then Tim should be fine too. Thankfully, the planet produces oxygen as its second main atmospheric chemical. He should be fine.</p>
<p>The four of them head out of the ship and part ways to do their individual tasks. Bart instantly speeds off with all that energy he always has, Cassie drags a bewildered looking Tim away with her and Kon marches forward set on his own task.</p>
<p>Finding the seeds takes no time at all. He bargains with the seller to give him 50 bags for a good price and hands him the kŕona for them and walks away carrying a large box full of the seeds. That’s another item off the list they needed to collect before heading back to Krypton to drop it all off.</p>
<p>Kon heads back to the ship to drop the seeds off before heading for the markets. It was a good opportunity to look around and just see what there is on offer.</p>
<p>After a while one particular set up catches his eye. Placed at the front of the table was a colourful cube. It was made up of loads more smaller cubes which all had different colours. Next to the object was several books and guides, one in particular read <em>‘Humans – Real or A Myth?’</em> He raises an eyebrow at that and picks it up to quickly flick through it.</p>
<p>He doesn’t get more than a page into it when there’s a new presence by his side. He glances up to find it was Cassie and she was looking over his shoulder at the book he had in his hands. He grins and shrugs her disbelieving look.</p>
<p>Next to her Kon sees Tim staring at everything, looking a little frantic. His eyes were huge and he steps closer to Cassie when another species walks by a little too close. It takes Kon a moment to realise that Tim would have never seen anything like this before, how this was all new to him.</p>
<p>“How’s he been?” He asks her.</p>
<p>Cassie glances Tim, “Skittish. Any time something gets close by, he instantly comes closer to me. We managed to grab some stuff for him though so that's something, also I’ve stocked up on food. There’s enough for all of us now until our next stop.”</p>
<p>“Great.”</p>
<p>“What? No way!”</p>
<p>Tim’s sudden comment makes them turn to him, they find the human looking wide-eyed at the cube on the table. Tim reaches out and picks it up, he instantly starts playing with it like he knows what it is and how to work it. The smaller cubes on it twist around under his fingers and new patterns are created as he does so.</p>
<p>Kon watches as a smile makes it’s way onto Tim’s face as he plays with the cube. After a moment he puts the book he’s been holding down and looks at the owner of the setup, “How much for the cube thing?”</p>
<p>He buys Tim the cube thing and the entire time the human was completely oblivious to the exchange, he seemed to be super absorbed into it now. As they go to leave, Cassie nudges Tim to get his attention.</p>
<p>“What oh, sorry.” Tim’s face goes red and he moves to place the cube back down on the table. Kon simply picks it back up and shoves it in his hands and begins to walk away. “Wait did you just buy this for me? You didn’t have to do that!” Tim says looking shocked.</p>
<p>Kon waves him off, hoping the message of <em>‘don’t worry about it</em>’ gets through to him.</p>
<p>Apparently it does because Tim says, “Thank you. I appreciate it. We have these on Earth y’know. It’s just so nice to finally recognise something.” He goes quiet and starts fiddling with the cube again.</p>
<p>The three of them look around a little longer and that’s when they finally bump in Bart again. The speedster appears in front of them, causing Tim to jump, and beams at them all. “So great news, I found a place that does the translator procedure, they even said they’ll– oh hey what’s that!” Bart’s attention zones in on the cube in Tim’s hand.</p>
<p>“Bart.” Cassie scolds. Bart can get distracted so easily because of his short attention span, it seems to have gotten even worse with Tim now around them as he wants to know so much about Tim’s species.</p>
<p>Bart moves his attention away from the colourful cube to Cassie, “Right sorry. Anyway, they said they can do the procedure as soon as we arrive because they’re not busy.”</p>
<p>Kon shares a look with Cassie, “Let’s go then.”</p>
<p>Bart leads them to a building and they all wonder inside. Once inside they come across a large room where there are chairs against the walls on opposite sides, one wall leads into a corridor and there’s a desk just next to the door.</p>
<p>At the desk there was a Martian looking very bored. They glance up and see the four of them, “Back again so soon? Alright, what one of you needs the translator?”</p>
<p>Bart steps forward and points to Tim, “It’s this one.” The Martian nods before turning away and starts doing something at the desk. Bart turns to them, “I explained the situation when I first came here.”</p>
<p>Kon nods and looks at Tim who was staring at the Martian with a fearful look. Right, first time out in the galaxy, first time seeing other species that didn’t resemble anything like humans. Unfortunately Kon has no idea on how to try and comfort him so he ends up letting it go. After this they should be able to communicate with no problems.</p>
<p>“Go on through, third door on the left. Master Ikson is waiting for you.”</p>
<p>They thank the Martian and walk through until they reach the right door. Bart leads them in and they pile into the room. It was a large clean room, there were monitors along one wall, counters on the one adjacent to it and chairs on the other wall opposite the door. In the centre of the room was a large chair, built up and surrounded by various of equipment.</p>
<p>By the monitors stood a man who was wearing a long white overalls, gloves and glasses. When they enter the room, he turns to them, “So, I believe we have a human among us today? How very strange.”</p>
<p>Kon realises that he was also a Kryptonian, his accent giving him away.</p>
<p>“Uh yes sir,” Kon mutters, “Are you able to perform the procedure on him or not?”</p>
<p>The other Kryptonian looks thoughtful for a minute before he was smiling, “I have to admit I’ve only ever done it on a human once before. You never see a human being around this part of the galaxy so the procedure is rarely done on the species, their bone structure in their mouths are slightly different and more fragile but it is possible. It just may hurt for a while.”</p>
<p>“It won’t hurt him permanently or nothing right?” Cassie asks glancing between him and Tim.</p>
<p>“No. It’ll just cause some mild discomfort as his body adjusts to the translator. It’ll only hurt more because of their fragile states,” he informs them as he turns back to the monitors, “now get him in the chair, the sooner we start the sooner we finish.”</p>
<p>They turn to Tim who was staring at them all like they were crazy. Kon reaches out, he removes the cube from Tim’s grip, and gently grabs his arm to drag him towards the chair in the centre of the room. Tim’s eyes somehow widen even further, “What are you doing? What’s happening?”</p>
<p>He starts resisting Kon’s pulling, “Oh fuck off, I am not going on that chair! Let me go!” He fights Kon’s hold on him and tries to push him away. Kon only tightens his hold and begins forcing Tim down into the chair.</p>
<p>“No! No way! Let me go!”</p>
<p>As Kon was about to start using his strength to keep him in place, Tim’s arm flings out of nowhere and catches him on the side of the head. While it didn’t hurt, it did stun enough to let him go, Tim takes the opportunity and makes a break for it.</p>
<p>However, he only gets to the door before Cassie was wrapping her arms around his waist and lifting him up off the ground. Tim screams and fights her hold, but she doesn’t let go, her own super strength was keeping him in place.</p>
<p>Instead of dropping Tim onto the chair, she climbs on it herself and puts Tim in her lap, he’s still squirming to get away but her arms were locked around his middle section keeping him there.</p>
<p>“This is insane! Let me go! What are you going to do to me?”</p>
<p>Tim’s arms and legs were failing about, trying to hit Cassie as he had done with Kon, but this time Bart intercepts his wild limbs. The speedster climbs onto the chair and practically sits in Tim’s lap, effectively pinning his legs down, and at the same time he grabs Tim’s arms and holds them in his own, stopping them from moving anymore.</p>
<p>“Guys please, don’t, whatever it is please don’t.”</p>
<p>Kon feels bad for Tim but he doesn’t do anything to stop it, it was all necessary because he needed that translator no matter what. He watches helplessly as Tim continues to try and get out of the grip his crew has on him. Were humans always this feisty? Did they not know when to give up?</p>
<p>The other Kryptonian comes over to the chair and eyes up their positions with a raised eyebrow but doesn’t comment on it. He simply leans over them and grabs Tim’s face, forcing his head back and his mouth open. Tim makes a noise and fights harder to get free as Master Ikson puts something in his mouth, forces his jaw to close and holds it shut so Tim couldn’t spit it out.</p>
<p>Kon frowns, not liking the treatment against Tim, “Can you use anaesthesia, or would that harm him?”</p>
<p>The older Kryptonian glances at him, “Normally I wouldn’t, but since this is special case I will be. The anaesthesia won’t hurt him, he’ll just go unconscious for a while and won’t feel a thing.”</p>
<p>Kon watches as he opens Tim’s mouth again and pulls out whatever he had put in there the first place. Tim glares at him and starts protesting as he fights the hold on him once again. Master Ikson ignores the human in favour for the monitors.</p>
<p>After a long moment he turns back around now with a syringe in his hand. Without any further words, he jabs Tim in the arm with the syringe and pulls it out again. Tim yelps at the actions but the effect the anaesthesia has on him is instant.</p>
<p>His fighting slows down and his words blend together as his body becomes limp in Cassie and Bart’s hold. Then, just like that, he was unconscious. If Kon hadn’t seen him sleeping before he would have thought Tim just died right in front of him, that thought helps stop him from panicking.</p>
<p>Cassie and Bart place Tim down in the chair properly and Master Ikson goes about his business doing what he needs to in order to start the procedure.</p>
<p>“Thank you for the assistance but now if you all would wait outside, you’ll be called in once the procedure has been done.”</p>
<p>With some hesitation they leave the room and head back where the desk and the bored Martian was. They take a seat each and wait for Tim’s translator to be fitted. Once it was, communication will be so much easier between them all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I apologise for the slow build up, getting the communication issue sorted is what I wanted to focus on in this chapter to get it out the way so I could move on and write all the fun and interesting stuff I have in mind for this. The story will develop further from here and hopefully I can keep everyone's interest with the upcoming chapters!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nothing made sense when Tim first woke up. His mind was groggy, it hurt to open his eyes as light blinded them and he can hardly work out what happened or why he was in the state he currently was in.</p>
<p>He keeps his eyes closed and tries to sort through his fogged-up mind. He was lying down on something soft, despite that his muscles were sore as if he’s been in one position for too long but the main thing he finally figures out was that his jaw hurt. A lot.</p>
<p>With the way his mind currently was, he can’t remember how he hurt his jaw in the first place. Did he do something to it in his sleep? Did Jason punch him in the jaw for a third time? Or perhaps Cass accidently hit him with a baseball bat again?</p>
<p>Testing its range Tim carefully opens his mouth and closes it, he does it again but opens it a little wider than before. It proves to be too painful to open his mouth fully and he lets out a moan when it becomes too much. He tries to recall what happened for his mouth to hurt like hell but nothing instantly comes to mind.</p>
<p>What had happened?</p>
<p>After a moment Tim finally forces his eyes open and carefully sits himself upright, while his muscles protested at moving from the stiffness everything else actually felt intact and fine.</p>
<p>It was when he was observing his surroundings that the memories of what happen come to him. In his mind it finally clicks what happened and the reason behind why his jaw was hurting.</p>
<p>Tim wildly looks around the room, looking for the others who were the cause of his pain. The aliens who pinned him down until he got injected with something that knocked him out. What did they do to him? What did they do to his mouth? He should have known not to trust them! It was all just a false sense of security, damn him for being so stupid!</p>
<p>That’s when the door opens and one of the three aliens walk in. Without realising it, Tim was already moving. He scrambles off the sofa he happened to be on and scurries backwards on all fours to make as much space as can be between him and the alien as possible, he only stops moving when his back hits something.</p>
<p>The alien seems to startle at his actions and freezes on the spot. As he stares, Tim quickly glances around for that metal pole he previously had. He curses when he realises it was left of the table by the sofa, it was too close to the alien to grab it now.</p>
<p>The being opposite him seems to get over himself because he starts slowly coming towards him. In fear, Tim feels his heart beating quicker than before and his breathing becomes shallow. This is it, he’s going to die. He had thought they were so nice to him but he was wrong, of course he was wrong!</p>
<p>“Tim, I’m not going to hurt you. Please calm down, you’re safe and you’re fine.” He says as he goes around the sofa.</p>
<p>Somehow in his panicked state, his mind supplies the alien’s name. It was Kon-el, the alien slowly approaching him was Kon-el, and he was talking slowly holding his hands out like Tim was a frightened, caged animal.</p>
<p>Tim tenses and glares at him, “What did you do to me? Leave me alone!”</p>
<p>Kon-el stops just in front of the sofa, thankfully still leaving enough space between them, and crouches down so he could be more level with Tim. “Tim, can you understand me?”</p>
<p>Tim blinks at him, startled over the fact that <em>he could</em>. He could understand Kon-el and what he was saying. But how was that possible? Just moments a go (well before he got knocked unconscious) he couldn’t understand him but now he can.</p>
<p>The revolution didn’t help Tim to relax. “What did you do to me!”</p>
<p>“We got you a universal translator. It had to be put in your mouth and unfortunately we couldn’t tell you what was happening so we forced it on you. It was necessary. The translator allows you to understand every being in the universe.”</p>
<p>Tim continues to blink at him, slowly processing what he was being told. The pain in his mouth was from a translator? What kind of translator needed to be inserted into the mouth? Tim swallows thickly, ignoring how his jaw throbs with the action, “So you’re not going to kill me?” He asks slowly.</p>
<p>Kon-el raises an eyebrow, “What? No! Why would I kill you? Where did that idea come from? Is that what you humans instantly think about, whether something is going to kill you or not?”</p>
<p>Tim shrugs, not really knowing how to respond to that. He feels himself relax just slightly, maybe he had been a bit dramatic but there was always room for caution.</p>
<p>“So is the translator supposed to make my whole jaw feel like it’s going to fall off? Because it really hurts.” Tim tells him, he had momentarily forgotten about it in his panicked state but now the adrenaline has died a bit he’s starting to feel it again.</p>
<p>Kon-el stands up and brings out a small white box, he shows it to Tim before placing it on the table. “Those are apparently supposed to help with the pain. I can’t tell you any more than that. Master Ikson said since you’re a human your bones are more fragile and your nervous system is more sensitive so it’s going to hurt for a few days. He said to take one every few hours and it’ll ease.”</p>
<p>“So they’re pain killers basically?” Tim questions slowly standing up himself, he doesn’t feel as panicked as before now he knows what happened and how Kon-el wasn’t about to kill him.</p>
<p>The alien shoots him a confused look, “I don’t know what that is.”</p>
<p>Tim blinks, right that’s a human term apparently. Deciding to not explain it he waves his confusion off, “Don’t worry about it.”</p>
<p>Kon-el moves away then and wonders over to the kitchen area. He opens the fridge up and comes back with a water bottle, he pops it on the table and stands away. Tim cautiously steps forward and grabs the water and the box. Inside was multiple small white pills which look exactly like painkillers. In the back of his mind he realises that this could be anything but that, however he just goes for it and takes one with a sip of water.</p>
<p>Once that was done he slumps down on the sofa and glances at Kon-el, “Sorry for acting like that. I was just frightened I guess, I didn’t know what you had done and I panicked. Can you tell me how this translator works please? Will I be able to understand the other two as well?”</p>
<p>Just because his jaw was hurting doesn’t mean he’s not going to talk. This was the first time he’s been able to understand anyone since being kidnapped, he’s not going to let this opportunity go to waste because of a little pain.</p>
<p>Kon-el moves and sits on the opposite end of the sofa, “I don’t know the details of <em>how</em> it works, all I can tell you is that it’s a device that gets put in your mouth, usually on a tooth if your species has them, and through an external device it automatically translates everyone’s languages. I don’t know all the technical details, it’s a bit beyond me but just know that it works.”</p>
<p>Tim tries to get his head around that. “So by placing this thing in my mouth it simply allows me to understand every language in existence?”</p>
<p>Kon-el nods, “Yeah, that sounds right. The device we have allows you to turn it on or off and some other stuff. Yours is in the cockpit with the rest of ours for safe keeping.”</p>
<p>“That's completely bizarre.” Tim comments looking at him, there’s so much more he wants to ask about it because how did that technology even exist? How was it possible? There’s got to be a deeper explanation of it than just <em>‘it just goes in the mouth and works.’</em> Tim wants to know more.</p>
<p>“I know, it’s not surprising you humans haven’t come across this kind of technology yet. Getting you the translator was one of the first things we wanted to do. It’ll make communication between us much easier now we can all understand one another.”</p>
<p>“Hey,” Tim protests, “Us ‘<em>humans’</em> aren’t all that bad!”</p>
<p>Kon-el raises an eyebrow. “Your species is so rare to find out in the galaxy. I’ve never met a human until you, neither have the others. Apparently you guys have barely made it into space travel and you’re incredibly far behind development. There’s so much we don’t know about you because no one has ever really met your species before.”</p>
<p>Tim takes in that information, he feels a little defensive at basically being picked on. It wasn’t <em>his</em> fault his species was behind on things compared to the rest of the galaxy.</p>
<p>He looks away from Kon-el and stares at the ground as his mind races with so many thoughts. There are so many questions he wants to ask and so many things he wants to discuss with him now that he can. He just doesn’t know where to start.</p>
<p>“When you first picked me up,” Tim begins thinking through some things, “Is that what you were trying to work out? Whether I was a human or not? Or if I came from planet Earth?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, we used the fact you didn’t have a translator to narrow down the species and then confirmed it with you.” Kon-el tells him. “Obviously us being able to understand you helped a lot even though you couldn’t understand us.”</p>
<p>Tim opens his mouth to speak again but stops when the door opens and reveals another crew member. Tim doesn’t exactly see him walk in because suddenly the guy just appears right in front of him in a blink of the eye. Despite being around him for a while now, Tim still wasn’t used to it, he jumps away from Bart in fright. “Don’t do that!”</p>
<p>Bart grins widely, he stares at Tim for a moment before looking at Kon and back again, “Can he understand us? Can you understand us?”</p>
<p>“Yeah…” Tim agrees slowly. He wasn’t used to how much energy this guy had. It’s like he lived on never ending batteries or something.</p>
<p>“Finally! Now I can ask you all the questions I have been dying to! Likewhat’sEarthlike? Whatkindoffooddoyoueat? Howdoyouswitchmoddssoquickly? Whatdohumansliketodoforfun? Howlongisyourlifespan?”</p>
<p>“Bart!”</p>
<p>Bart stops talking and sends Kon-el, who snapped at him, a sheepish grin. “Sorry I got excited! You know what it’s like.”</p>
<p>“Yeah I do, but you’re freaking him out!”</p>
<p>While they were conversing Tim was just sat by staring wide-eyed at Bart not understanding a thing he was saying. The alien was talking so fast that he couldn’t make out the words, even with this fancy ass translator he now apparently has.</p>
<p>“Okay, sorry, I’ll try to speak slower now you can understand what we’re saying. How are you feeling by the way? Did Kon give you the box?”</p>
<p>“Yeah he did. My mouth hurt’s but I seem to be fine other than that.”</p>
<p>Bart cocks his head to the side like a curious cat, “Do humans get hurt a lot? How easy it for you to get hurt? Do you have any powers that help you stop from getting hurt?”</p>
<p>Even though Bart was now talking slower to the point Tim could understand him, his questions were still being rushed out and Tim was certain he wasn’t breathing between each one. It takes Tim a moment to answer them as he tries to get his head together.</p>
<p>“Uh, sometimes depends on you as person I guess. Again, it depends on the individual but some get hurt more than others and to a various degree. And no, we have no powers.”</p>
<p>Next to him on the sofa Kon-el huffs, “Again, this is why your species is underdeveloped. How do you get anything done if you don’t have any powers? Don’t you even have like super strength?</p>
<p>Tim pouts at him, once again feeling bullied. “That’s uncalled for! We do fine without powers, we get stuff done through using our brains, patience, and determination. And no, we don’t have ‘super-strength’, you can train for years to get really strong but nothing that’s out of the ordinary.”</p>
<p>“Huh, interesting.” Bart comments. “This is so cool, I’ve always wanted to meet a human, you guys are like completely unknown to the universe and now we have you on board our ship!”</p>
<p>At the alien’s excitement Tim couldn’t help but look away, feeling a slight blush appear on his cheeks. He wasn’t used to having people (even if they were aliens) that excited to be around him, he didn’t really know how to take the attention.</p>
<p>His focus, however, soon moves on when he glances at the table and spots the coloured cube. He had completely forgotten about that. They brought it for him when they were in the market type thing before they knocked him out.</p>
<p>Tim reaches out and grabs it off the table and starts fiddling with it, twisting and turning the pieces of the cube around in various of directions. He glances at the two aliens, “Thank you for getting this by the way. You didn’t have to.”</p>
<p>They seem caught off guard by the change in topic and momentarily blink at him, it’s almost like Tim could actually see the buffering symbol spinning around on them before they catch up with what’s going on.</p>
<p>“You seemed to like it and recognise it.” Kon-el says noncommittedly.</p>
<p>Bart peers at him and the cube, “What <em>is</em> it?”</p>
<p>Tim twists the pieces a couple more time before answering, “It’s a Rubik’s Cube. Basically it’s a toy on my planet, a puzzle, something for entertainment. To complete it what you have to do is rotate all of these blocks until each face of the cube is a single colour.”</p>
<p>“How is that entertaining?” Kon-el questions him, frowning at Rubik’s cube in his hand.</p>
<p>Tim shrugs, he leans forward to place the toy back on the table, “It’s fun for some people and others not so much. Depends on what you like really. It’s one of the first things I’ve been able to recognise from Earth since being in space. How is it that a Rubik’s Cube makes it further into the galaxy than human’s?”</p>
<p>“I want a go!”</p>
<p>Tim blinks in surprise when a whoosh of air passes him. He blinks again when he finds Bart sat next to him on the sofa now playing with the Rubik’s cube, trying to work out the complicated puzzle.</p>
<p>Tim sits back in the sofa and takes a moment to notice how the pain in his jaw has subsided. Those pills he took must have actually been pain killers after all which was great, he’ll have to remember to take more of them when the pain starts up again.</p>
<p>Despite the awful way it was done (Tim wasn’t really fond of being manhandled and pinned down) he was thankful for the translator because now he can understand these aliens. If he’s going to be around them for a long time, not understanding them would have been a nightmare, sure he would have picked bits and pieces up eventually, but this is a much easier outcome.</p>
<p>He looks over at Kon-el, “What about you lot? You know stuff about me and my species to some extent, but I know absolutely nothing about any of you. Where do you come from? What is your species? Why did you pick me up that day? Why do you have different languages? So you guys are <em>not</em> going to probe me? Do you have jobs? How does this ship work? There’s so much I want to know.”</p>
<p>Tim takes a deep breath when he finishes rambling. He looks at the aliens to find them staring at him, which by this point is becoming a very common thing.</p>
<p>“Wow,” Bart comments, “And I thought I spoke fast.”</p>
<p>Kon-el shakes his head and gets up off the sofa, he starts heading for the door and gestures for Tim to follow, “Come on, we’ll go to the cockpit and discuss all that there.”</p>
<p>Out of habit, Tim grabs the pole from the table and gets up from the sofa to follow Kon-el. Behind him, still playing with the Rubik’s Cube, Bart jumps to his feet and also begins to follow.</p>
<p>They walk into the cockpit and Kon-el heads for the whiteboard. Tim doesn’t watch what he’s doing because Cassie was appearing in front of him and grabbing his attention.</p>
<p>“Can you understand us now then?” Her tone was clipped and she looked disinterested in the conversation she begun.</p>
<p>Tim raises an eyebrow at her, “Uh, yeah, now I can.”</p>
<p>She nods, “Okay good. At least the hardest struggle is now sorted.”</p>
<p>Before Tim could ask what she means, his attention was being diverted back to Kon-el. “So Tim, what do you want to know?”</p>
<p>Tim glances wearily at Cassie one more time before moving away to head for the table where Kon-el was now sat at. The alien was leaning back in the chair and looking at him expectantly.</p>
<p>Placing the pole down on the table, Tim sits himself down on the opposite side and faces him. “Whatever you want to tell me.”</p>
<p>“Okay. So I am Kon-el, or Kon, I’m a Kryptonian from the planet Krypton. Bart there is called Bartholomew, he’s a Speedster from the planet Keystone. Cassie, also known as Cassandra, is an Amazon from Themyscira. Together we make up the crew of Young Justice, we travel throughout the galaxies collecting items that are requested and deliver them back to the leaders.</p>
<p>At the moment we’re on a collection run for the leaders of Krypton. We stopped by the planet you happened to crash on to collect some rare planks. Some instincts inside of me were just screaming that we needed to somehow help you even know we didn’t know who or what you were.”</p>
<p>“Kryptonian’s are known to be very considerate and compassionate. You’re lucky, Cassie would have definitely left you.” Bart jumps in with a smile.</p>
<p>Kon makes a face at him, “Well, most of my kind are considerate, not the leaders though, they’re a nightmare to deal with.”</p>
<p>Tim digests all of that information because that’s a lot to take in. At least he now has an idea on their backgrounds, there will definitely be enough time in the near future to learn more about them in deeper detail.</p>
<p>“So you all come from different places, do you all have powers then? Super abilities of some sorts?”</p>
<p>“You say that like it’s not normal.” Cassie observes. “Nearly every single species you meet in the universe have some kind of ability. Of course a lot of those don’t really show until your around other species who have different abilities, but they’re there.”</p>
<p>Tim shrugs uselessly, “Well us humans don’t have anything, unless it’s something we haven’t discovered yet.”</p>
<p>Opposite him Kon snorts, and in a sing-song voice says, “Underdeveloped!”</p>
<p>“Would you stop that!” Tim snaps at him, not appreciating the mockery. Kon puts his hands up in a placing gesture but was still smiling as he does so. Tim glares at him before turning away to face Cassie again, “What powers do you have?”</p>
<p>“Super-strength, ability to fly and super-speed. That’s just naming a few.” She shrugs at the end like those mean nothing.</p>
<p>Tim gapes at her, “Sure,<em> ‘just a few’,”</em> he turns to the other two, “What about you two?”</p>
<p>“I have super-speed, I am <em>way</em> faster than those two. I can phase, and I have electrokinesis. Again that’s just a few different ones.” Bart tells him while still playing with the cube. He’s only solved one side at the moment.</p>
<p>Kon uses this chance to jump in. “I also have super-speed and super-strength. I have super-hearing, flight and tactile telekinesis.”</p>
<p>Tim nods, taking it all in. Right, so he’s on a ship with three incredibly powerful beings, brilliant. No wonder he couldn’t escape them when they pinned him down to have the translator fitted. There’s a lot more to learn about these guys than he originally thought.</p>
<p>He opens his mouth to ask more questions, because that’s basically all he has at this point, when his stomach makes a growling sound.</p>
<p>The sound is instantly picked up by the others, “What was that?”</p>
<p>Kon slaps the table and grins at his crew excitedly, “See! That's the sound I told you about. His stomach makes that strange sound, it means he’s hungry.”</p>
<p>They all turn to Tim expectantly. All he could do was blink back, he wasn’t <em>that</em> hungry but now he’s thinking about it when was the last time he ate? Some food right now actually might be a good idea. In the end he shrugs, “Uh kind of? I can’t remember when I last ate however just because my stomach growls, it doesn’t instantly mean I’m hungry. Our bodies just make random sounds all the time anyway.”</p>
<p>“It’s just another reason why you’re weird.”</p>
<p>Cassie stands up from where she was sat, “I’ll go get us some food and then we can discuss things further. It won’t be long now until we’re at our next destination anyway.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Okay, destination number four here we are.” Kon announces as he pilots the ship to carefully land on the latest planet’s surface.</p>
<p>Once the ship had settled down and everything seemed to be fine, he gets up out of the chair and faces the others. Cassie was in the seat beside him, playing with a few different settings on the dashboard and Bart was sat on chair at the table going through some files.</p>
<p>He turns back to Cassie, “We ready to go?”</p>
<p>“One moment…” She says distractedly still pressing a few different buttons. A few seconds later she stands up, “Yeah we’re all clear. Now just to clarify we need to gather around 30 Sardon Rocks which all can be found at the edge of the stream that passes through the middle of this planet. This is going to be one of the harder items we have to collect out of the ten, simply because of the work to get them out from the ground.”</p>
<p>Kon groans, he already knew that but still isn’t prepared for the work that’ll have to go into the job to get said rocks. Even with all of their powers it’s going to take some time to collect what they need.</p>
<p>“Let’s get started then, around halfway we can stop and have food.” Kon says heading for the exit. “Hey Bart, can you go and get Tim please, it’ll do him some good to get off the ship.”</p>
<p>While the three of them had been in the cockpit, Tim’s been in the common room doing whatever human’s do when they’re not busy. He wasn’t entirely sure, but he’s more than happy to just let Tim get on with it.</p>
<p>Cassie and Kon make their way out of the ship together and by the time they’re stepping foot on the new planet, Bart appears next them. Kon turns around to find Tim slowly coming towards the group, he seemed a little off and was wiping at his eyes. Eventually he staggers to them and comes to stand by Cassie.</p>
<p>“You okay Tim?” Kon asks.</p>
<p>“I just woke him up,” Bart comments with a smile. They look back at the human who was slowly blinking at everything. “Remember, it takes a while for their brains to start working again after they’ve been asleep.”</p>
<p>Tim scowls at them, “I can hear you, you know.”</p>
<p>The three of them snicker at him. That’s another thing they’ve come to learn about Tim, when he’s just woken up from sleeping he’s usually very grumpy. It had taken them a while to learn that Tim’s grumpiness wasn’t actually aimed at them, just that it took a while for him to wake up despite being awake already and until that happened he was sour and grumpy at everything.</p>
<p>It was just another thing to add to the list on why humans were strange.</p>
<p>“As a reminder, this planet is known for its variety in species of Glothos, most of which can be deadly so don’t go near or even touch them. If they happen to get close just leave them be and they’ll leave us alone…” Cassie pauses and sends Bart a look.</p>
<p>The speedster notices and pouts, “Hey!”</p>
<p>“As long as they aren’t aggravated they shouldn’t be a problem. Not only that, since we’re going to be near running water we should be fine as the species doesn’t like to get wet, but you never know.”</p>
<p>The planet they’re now on wasn’t anything spectacular. All there was were trees and water really, it wasn’t anything special like other planets they’ve visited, however this planet has the rocks they need to collect so they had no choice but to come here.</p>
<p>Kon had ended up putting the ship in a large clearing of trees, not too far from where the stream that runs through the middle of the planet was. They’d have to travel through some trees to get there but it was in easy distance. He’s done that on purpose.</p>
<p>He turns to his crew, “Let’s go.”</p>
<p>Together they walk through the trees until they find an opening of land where large gap happens to be before it continues the other side. The four of them wonder to the edge of the gap to peer into it, that’s where they find the stream below them.</p>
<p>From the edge there was a small incline of hill that leads into the stream but it looks unsteady, one misstep could easily end badly. Kon knew that it was in these small slopes at the edge of the stream would be where they would find the Sardon Rocks they needed to collect.</p>
<p>“So we just need to start digging and find those rocks buried within the land. Once we start finding them, we can place them in a pile and when we have enough we’ll take them all back to the ship.” Kon says to the others.</p>
<p>They ignore him because Bart is suddenly exclaiming, “Whoever collects the most rocks gets to decide what we watch for our next entertainment night!”</p>
<p>And then just like that, Cassie and Bart immediately head for the slopes. Cassie even flies to the other side and starts digging with her hands while Bart zips back and forward this side of the stream in his search for rocks. Kon’s about to follow when he remembers that Tim probably has no idea what’s going on.</p>
<p>Noticing that Cassie and Bart have disappeared, Tim finally takes note that something was happening. “Wait, what’s happening? What are we doing?”</p>
<p>Well, that confirms Kon’s thoughts. Happy that he thought ahead, he digs through his pockets of his clothes until he finds a piece of paper, he holds it out to Tim, “We’re finding these rocks. They’ll be buried within the land along the stream. You can help if you want, but it’ll involve digging through tough ground and I know you don’t have any powers that’ll help out with that.”</p>
<p>Tim takes the paper, which contained information and a picture of what the rocks look like, from him and studies it, “I’m sure I can help somehow. If not I’ll do a little bit of exploring instead.”</p>
<p>Kon nods but frowns, suddenly feeling a bit protective, “Well okay that’s fine. Just don’t go too far.”</p>
<p>Tim shoots him glare before turning around and leaving Kon standing by himself. He watches Tim wonder off for a moment before deciding to crack on with work. It wouldn’t be fair to let them do everything, also there was a competition that he needed to win.</p>
<p>By two hours they’ve found 18 Sardon Rocks between them, which was great progress as Kon expected them to have found less in much a longer time frame. Collecting these rocks may not take as long as he originally thought.</p>
<p>Along the edge there were three piles of rocks stacked side by side, all of which had around the same amount in it. Cassie’s pile has 6 rocks in it while Kon and Bart’s piles were equal with 5 rocks each. The other two were found by Tim who simply placed his on random piles. He made a very clear point that the competition meant nothing to him as he didn’t know of any types of entertainment outside of Earth.</p>
<p>It was then that Cassie made a point about them stopping for food and to finish the job off afterwards. It had been hard work collecting the rocks they already have, they all had to go digging down in the ground to bring the rocks up to the surface. Sometimes they would even dig a rock up only to find it wasn’t a Sardon Rock but something else. When that happened it was frustrating.</p>
<p>“Kon, can you find Tim and head back to the ship. We’ll load these rocks we have already and then carry on afterwards.”</p>
<p>Kon nods without thinking about and starts looking around for the said human being. Now thinking about it, he realises that he hasn’t seen Tim in a while. He steps away from the stream and heads in a random direction to look for him, he’s probably gone off exploring or something.</p>
<p>It turns out that Tim hadn’t gone far because Kon quickly finds him behind some trees. He was crouched on the floor facing and speaking to something that Kon couldn’t see from his point of view. “Wow look at you, you look exactly like Alfred back home.”</p>
<p>Kon has no idea what an ‘Alfred’ was but he was about to call Tim when he finally gets view of what Tim was talking too. He darts forward and grabs hold of Tim’s arm to yank him away from the thing. He must have grabbed Tim a little too hard because the human made a painful sound.</p>
<p>“Ow! Watch what you’re doing! What gives?” Tim questions scowling at him. When he tugs the arm in Kon’s grip, Kon lets him go.</p>
<p>Before answering Kon glares at the creature which was just sat on the floor staring at them with its big orb eyes like it was an innocent creature and not something that could hurt, or even kill, a species. Instead of grabbing him this time, Kon begins to push Tim’s back, urging him to walk away from the creature and back towards the stream.</p>
<p><em>“Do not </em>go near those things Tim.” He says firmly. “They are deadly and could easily harm you, especially when it gets aggravated.”</p>
<p>Tim stumbles along but doesn’t protest against his actions. He shoots Kon a look, “Why? It looks completely harmless. It looks just like a cat. And it’s so fluffy! How can something like that be so bad?”</p>
<p>Kon gives Tim an unimpressed look, “Just don’t go near it, or anything like that okay.”</p>
<p>“But why?”</p>
<p>“Tim.” Kon almost snaps. Why was he making this so hard? What was difficult to understand about not going near it?</p>
<p>In the end Tim sighs and holds his hands up, “Okay, fine sorry. I won’t go near it next time.”</p>
<p>Kon feels himself relax at hearing that. “Thank you. Now come on, we’re getting food on the ship before getting the last of the rocks we need.”</p>
<p>Another hour or so later, Kon finds himself back by the stream currently fighting the ground to get a large Sardon Rock free. It was tough and certainly buried in deep. He wasn’t giving up though, this rock would make him level with Cassie in the competition and that was very important.</p>
<p>His friends were around still collecting their own rocks. Cassie was further down the stream by the water. Bart was now on the opposite side digging through the land in his attempts to gather some rocks. Tim was nowhere to be seen, Kon thinks he’s probably gone off again to explore.</p>
<p>He turns his attention back on the Sardon Rock in his hands but just before he could pull it out the ground with one last tug, a yell gets his attention. He looks up to try and work out what it was. Bart was currently vibrating his hand through the dirt and Cassie was now hovering above the water to studying it. So it wasn’t either of them meaning it was…</p>
<p>Tim.</p>
<p>He drops the rock and rushes to where he heard the yell. Once again he’s grateful for his enhanced hearing because he wouldn’t have known anything was wrong else. He finds Tim yelling clutching his arm closely to his body. Kon doesn’t immediately know what happened but there’s movement from the corner of his eye, he turns just in time to see a Glothos disappear behind a tree.</p>
<p>Kon hurries to Tim, trying to assess the damage but the human was cursing and hissing in pain as he clutches his arm. He stands by him not fully knowing what to do. “You’re an idiot. Rao, Tim I told you not to go near the thing and not to touch it!”</p>
<p>Tim finally notices Kon standing by and sends a glare at him, “I didn’t touch the thing. It got startled, or something, and just suddenly spat at me!”</p>
<p>“You shouldn’t have even been close enough to it for it to spit at you.”</p>
<p>“Well I didn’t know it was going to spit at me did I?”</p>
<p>“I told you not to go near it.”</p>
<p>“I didn’t go near it, I was looking at it from a distance!”</p>
<p>“Why didn’t you listen to me?”</p>
<p>“Why didn’t you tell me they could spit and burn my arm? Fucking hell!”</p>
<p>“I told you not to go near it and you said you wouldn’t. I would have thought that was enough information for you, plus Cassie said they were deadly when we first stepped on the planet.”</p>
<p>Silence follows his statement and Kon feels himself getting more annoyed at Tim’s behaviour. The paper he’s been looking at about humans said they have brains, so why didn’t Tim use his? Was this a common thing among them or was it just a Tim thing? He doesn’t know but firstly, there are other important things to deal with.</p>
<p>He holds his hand out to Tim, “Let me look at your arm.”</p>
<p>This seems to make Tim more defensive. “Why?”</p>
<p>Kon takes a breath and levels Tim with a look, “I want to see the damage done, they can do some serious harm to some species, they sometimes can even kill. Let me look at it then we can see if we can treat it on the ship.”</p>
<p>Tim stares at him for a long moment before he’s taking a deep breath and letting it out. Then slowly he lets go of his arm and holds it out for Kon to look at. Tim’s arm was shaking as he moves it, Kon gently takes the arm by the elbow and hand to assess the damage done to his forearm.</p>
<p>He wasn’t new to injuries but because of his species he (thankfully) doesn’t have to deal with much damage. His mostly impenetrable skin makes it hard for him to be injured, but the times he is he usually heals within hours or even days.</p>
<p>Kon winces when he sees Tim’s Caucasian skin an angry pink and red, it looked painful and with the way Tim was shaking and was controlling his breathing it must have been. Considering what damage a Glothos can do, this wasn’t too bad. It seemed treatable. Kon gently probes the area but in an instant Tim hisses and yanks his arm out of Kon’s touch.</p>
<p>“Don’t touch it asshole! It’s a first-degree burn, you can’t just prod it!” Tim shouts at him glaring. He went back to clutching his arm against his chest and Kon felt bad for causing Tim some more pain.</p>
<p>“It isn’t too bad considering some of the damage they can do. We’ll get some cream on it and it should heal in a couple hours, maybe a day.”</p>
<p>Tim blinks at him. “I’m sorry what?” He asks sounding completely baffled. It’s like he didn’t believe him. “A day? A <em>day!</em> This is going to take a <em>week</em> at the least to heal, if not more and it’ll most likely scar.”</p>
<p>It’s Kon’s turn to blink at Tim in bafflement. A week? But things like that only take a few hours to heal… it takes a moment but it finally clicks. “Is it because you’re a human? Do things like that take a long time to heal? That must be horrible.”</p>
<p>Tim’s own baffled look soon turns into one of anger and he stares at Kon, “Look this is great and all, we can discuss how long injuries take to heal but can we first please treat my arm before it gets worse. You said something about a cream, is that on the ship? Can we go now?”</p>
<p>Right, it’s painful, and Tim wants it to be treated. “Sorry, and of course. The cream is on the ship yes, will you be able to travel there?”</p>
<p>Tim gives him another look, “It’s my arm that’s hurting, not my legs. I can walk fine thank you very much.”</p>
<p>Kon leads the way back to the ship, as they go he keeps an eye out for any more Glothos that could be lurking around within the trees. Nothing happens as they travel back, once they get to the stream they give a very brief explanation of what happened to the others before continuing to the ship.</p>
<p>Once there, Kon takes Tim to the medical room they’ve set up inside. The room was in the corridor between the cockpit and the common room, it was small, hardly used but was well stocked with everything.</p>
<p>It was hardly used because like Kon, the others also rarely get hurt. If they did they would heal up within a few hours or a couple of days, they mostly keep the room stocked in case of emergencies. Kon’s thankful that they do because it seems like it’ll most certainly help Tim out at this moment of time.</p>
<p>As they walk into the room, Tim looks at him. He was still clutching his arm tightly and his face seemed to be pinched in pain, “Do you have burn cream or any type of balm? I can’t just put anything on it. If I did, it would just worsen.”</p>
<p>Kon frowns as Tim’s voice sounded off, he’s never really heard Tim talk like that before. Was this how human’s reacted to pain? How much pain was he actually in?</p>
<p>He doesn’t voice his questions, instead he goes to one of the cupboards and digs through a few tubs of ointments they have stocked. He’s not sure if he has exactly what Tim wants or needs but hopefully it’s close enough that it won’t cause more damage.</p>
<p>He eventually finds one that’s supposed to help with scalding’s and hands it to Tim. That should be close enough right? “Do you know what you’re doing?” He asks the human. He asks because Kon has no clue, he has very basic medical knowledge and simply knows that you just put cream on something and wait for it to heal.</p>
<p>Tim takes the tub, his eyes go over it analytically before he looks back up at Kon. “Yes I do. Luckily.” He turns around and starts to leave the room, “I’ll also need some bandages if you have them.”</p>
<p>Kon blinks at his retreating form, “Where are you going?”</p>
<p>Tim doesn’t turn around when he answers, “You don’t have a sink in here and I need to run my arm under cool water which I should have done a lot sooner than now.”</p>
<p>He disappears and Kon looks for the bandages he asked for, after a moment he finds them and exits the room to find Tim again. As he leaves the room, Bart and Cassie appear in the corridor looking both concerned and confused.</p>
<p>“What’s going on?”</p>
<p>Kon shuffles past them to try and find Tim, he ends up using his hearing and finds Tim in the bathroom. Walking in he sees Tim hunched over the sink with his arm under the facet, hissing with his face scrunched up in pain.</p>
<p>Behind him, his crew fill into the bathroom, “What happened?”</p>
<p>Tim looks up at them with narrowed eyes but doesn’t say anything. Kon turns to them, “Tim got spat at by a Glothos, now his arm is injured and this is apparently how you treat the injury.”</p>
<p>“It’s a first-degree burn. You’re supposed to cool it down, clean it and then apply cream to the affected area. You do this repeatedly until it’s healed.” Tim snaps at them, his arm was still under the faucet but slowly his face was softening up like the pain was easing.</p>
<p>“Why did you go near a Glothos in the first place?” Bart questions him. He then turns to Kon, “Didn’t we say they were deadly, didn’t you warn him?”</p>
<p>Kon scowls at the speedster, “Hey! I did warn him and he told me he wasn’t going to go near them but he did anyway!”</p>
<p>“I didn’t go near it!” Tim protests. “How was I supposed to know they could spit as far as seven feet! You guys should have told me how dangerous those things were.”</p>
<p>“Why <em>did</em> you go near it though?” Cassie now asks.</p>
<p>Tim rolls his eyes, “Because it looked like a cat from Earth. It was just so fluffy and innocent looking, I wanted to get a closer look but I didn’t go close enough to touch it.”</p>
<p>In the end the three of them let Tim tend to his arm on his own, especially after the human snaps at them for hovering around him and insisted he was fine. While Tim stays (safely) on the ship the three of them finish up collecting the Sardon Rocks they needed to get.</p>
<p>Much to his annoyance, it was Bart who wins the competition just by <em>one rock</em> and therefore gets to decide what the next entertainment night will be.</p>
<p>They pile the rocks into the ship together and once done, they all head back onto the ship completely done with the planet and ready to move onto the next. By that point Tim had finished tending to his injury and has retreated into the common room, requesting to be left alone. They respect his wish and all gather in the cockpit instead, they have work to do after all.</p>
<p>Every time they collect an item they each have a different task to fulfil. Bart fills out a paper report of the most recent collection, Cassie starts planning the next collection and Kon gets the most fun job where he has to call in with the leaders.</p>
<p>However before he gets the chance to call them, a shrill was coming from the dashboard which could only mean one thing. Steadying himself, Kon walks over and answers the shrilling noise.</p>
<p>“Young Justice.” A deep voice greets them.</p>
<p>“Sir.” Kon says back, “I was just about to call in.”</p>
<p>“Was that so? You actually remembered this time?”</p>
<p>Kon winces. He forgot to call the leaders last time because of the whole picking up Tim fiasco, it was fair to say Kon had been distracted at the time.</p>
<p>“We’ve just finished the fourth collection out of the ten and will be leaving the planet shortly. Cassie is currently working on our route to the fifth point as we speak. There also may be a chance we’ll need to stop somewhere for supplies along the way.” Kon reports.</p>
<p>“You’re making good progress so far, well done and keep it up.” The voice praises them. “I have contacted you first because there have been rumours going about the galaxies, especially ones you have recently passed through.”</p>
<p>Kon frowns, not liking where this was going. “Rumours sir?”</p>
<p>“Apparently there is a human being from Earth going about this part of the universe. We don’t know how they’ve gotten out here considering the species but there has been talk of one going around. Have you heard anything about this?”</p>
<p>Kon blinks at the dashboard, thinking deeply, he then glances behind him to see Bart and Cassie staring at him. Kon turns back to the dashboard, “No sir. We haven’t heard anything about this. If we encounter this human, what would you like us to do?”</p>
<p>“Nothing. Just be alert because if there is one about in this part of the universe, then it doesn’t mean anything good. Keep us updated with your progress and we’ll talk again soon.”</p>
<p>Then like that the voice was gone, leaving Kon and the others alone in the cockpit. A moment of silence goes by before Cassie breaks it, she comes and stands beside Kon at the dashboard. “Why did you lie to him Kon?”</p>
<p>Kon stares the variety of buttons in front of him, wondering that himself. “I don’t know,” he says in the end.</p>
<p>“Kon if the leaders find out that you lied to them, not only does that mean bad things for us but think about Tim.”</p>
<p>He looks at Cassie, “Telling him didn’t feel right. Not yet at least. There’s still so much we don’t know about Tim, he’s still learning to trust us and we still haven’t worked out how he’s here in the first place. Once we know more then we can tell the leaders.”</p>
<p>“I agree with Kon,” Bart joins in the conversation, “The more we know about him the more we can defend him. Who knows what the leaders will do when they find out we have a human on our ship.”</p>
<p>Cassie looks between them, “This is going to end badly, you realise that right.”</p>
<p>They both nod. “It’s a risk but it feels like the right risk.” Kon says. It’s the same feeling he had when he first saw Tim and it hasn’t changed since.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>You tell someone not to press the big red button, so what do they do? They press the big red button. That was kinda what I was trying to aim for with this chapter, telling Tim to not go near them things was only going to encourage him more. Unfortunately Tim learns the hard way and Kon learns to not believe everything Tim says! </p>
<p>I apologize for this chapter, I know it's not the best. While it was fun to write, it was also quite difficult to write. But this is what I got, I hope it was okay and that you enjoyed reading it!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey everyone, so just a couple of things: </p>
<p>First thing: I apologise that there was no update last week. I got busy with work and then I was ill for several days. Once I was better I had more work to do and I also worked on some other projects so this story kinda got neglected. But here we are now! </p>
<p>Second thing: The rating has changed! It was general but is now teen. That's because of this update. There is a bit violence and hints of blood towards the end of this chapter, just as a fore warning. Its nothing too graphic but just in case here's the warning if that makes you uncomfortable. </p>
<p>Other than that, please enjoy! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tim wasn’t sulking. He wasn’t! He was just pouting in the common room on his own as he thinks through recent events. That’s all. No sulking involved whatsoever.</p>
<p>
  <em>Okay so maybe he was sulking. </em>
</p>
<p>His arm was irritating him. Underneath the bandage his skin itches and he has to forcibly stop himself from scratching at the wound. He scowls at the ceiling as he slumps back into the plush couch he was sat on. He can’t believe a <em>cat</em> spat at him and burnt his arm. Out of everything he’s encountered so far, that cat-like creature is probably the strangest things he’s yet to see.</p>
<p>The aliens did tell him to not get too close, but in his defence they neglected to mention that the creature could spit over seven feet away! How was Tim supposed to know that? He saw the creature, it looked cute and fluffy and he wanted to pet it, then Kon-el found him and dragged him away. The alien’s reaction to the creature just made Tim more curious about it.</p>
<p>After grabbing food Tim found the cat again but kept his distance. It looked harmless and it even resembled his brother’s cat back home. However things went wrong when something spooked the creature and caused it to get nasty. In a matter of seconds it went from cute and cuddly to vicious and evil. It hissed and then spat at Tim before darting away and disappearing into the trees.</p>
<p>Thankfully he had quick reflexes and was able to cover his face with his arm before getting hit with the creature’s acid-like spit. His arm instantly flared up with pain which caused him to cry out. That’s when Kon-el appeared.</p>
<p>At least it was his arm that got burnt and not his face. Who knows what kind of damaged that would have caused if that was the outcome. <em>Curiosity killed the cat</em>. Tim snorts. Yeah, his curiosity did almost kill him this time.</p>
<p>“Are you okay?”</p>
<p>Tim jumps at the sudden voice. He turns around to look at them and follows them with his eyes as they walk over to the couch and sit opposite him.</p>
<p>“What’s funny?”</p>
<p>Cassie looks at him with slightly narrowed eyes, as if she’s suspicious of his behaviour. Tim eyes her up momentarily, even now after he’s been with them for a few weeks he still gets the odd feeling around Cassie. She’s warmed up to him a little in that time, as if she’s getting used to his presence now but there was still that underlying mistrust of him hanging around in the air.</p>
<p>Tim shrugs it off. There wasn’t a lot he could do about it in that moment. He averts his gaze from her and waves a dismissive hand. “Oh nothing, just some human crap.”</p>
<p>That was another thing Tim had learnt. Half of the time they have no idea what he’s saying, common phrases and sayings go right over their heads. Any abbreviations he makes gets him blanks stares. Movie and TV show references get him a raised eyebrow in question.</p>
<p>Of course this was to be expected considering where he is, but every time it happens the ache inside his chest of where he’s missing home just grows that bit heavier at the reminder.</p>
<p>Tim’s missing his friends and family. He doesn’t know how long it’s been since he was taken from earth as he was unable to track time while he was captured and he only has a vague idea of how long he’s been with these guys on this ship.</p>
<p>It sucks and Tim absolutely hates it. Unfortunately he doesn’t have much of a choice but to suck it up and get on with it.</p>
<p>“Sure...” Cassie drawls giving him that look that says <em>you humans are strange</em>. “I wanted to update you on some stuff. First off, our next stop will be in a few days’ time to collect the next item we need. There isn’t much to do between now and then, so basically get comfy and relax. Second thing, how would you like your own room on the ship? We were speaking and it’s only fair that you get your own space like the rest of us have.”</p>
<p>Tim nods taking in the information before pausing and shooting her a surprised look. He had been expecting the next stop details, however the room news did surprise him.</p>
<p>“Really? I didn’t think there would be any room for me to have my own space?” He questions her. “I don’t want to put any of you out or make any trouble.”</p>
<p>“We can clear out one of the storage rooms and place a bed in there. It wouldn’t be much but it’s somewhere other than in the common room for you.”</p>
<p>Tim smiles gratefully, “Yeah, that would be great. Thank you.”</p>
<p>Having his own space would be nice. As comfy as the couch in the common room was, having his own space would definitely be preferred.</p>
<p>She nods. “Okay, I can let the others know and we can get started on that. Third thing, how’s your arm?”</p>
<p>Tim lets out a breath and shrugs. “Irritating. The wound is still fresh so it’s going to be annoying for a little while yet. If I keep it clean and stuff it should hopefully heal up within a week or two. Thankfully it’s not anywhere where it would really be a nuisance.”</p>
<p>She stays quiet as he watches him. Tim glances at her but looks away again. He has no clue to what she’s thinking, he probably doesn’t want to know either.</p>
<p>When the silence drags on, Tim decides to fill it. “So what’s the plan until the next stop? Got any ideas or no?”</p>
<p>She shakes her head. “No. As I said there’s not much we can do now until we reach the next destination. Try to keep yourself occupied until then. I’m sure one of the others can help entertain you if you get bored.”</p>
<p>After that apparently Cassie was done with the conversation because she stands up and leaves the room without another word. Tim blinks at her vacated spot, wrapping his head around the conversation. Right, so now he has to entertain himself for the time being.</p>
<p>He sighs and starts deciding what he’s going to do with himself. As he looks around the room for inspiration, his eyes land on the Rubik’s cube on the table in front of him.</p>
<p>Figuring that’ll do for the time being, Tim reaches over and grabs it. Two of the sides were already solved and Tim’s going to assume that Bart was the one to do it. He wonders how many more he can complete until their next destination.</p>
<hr/>
<p>In the time it took to travel to the next planet, Tim simply plotted around the ship looking for things to do. One of the main things to be achieved within that time was that his room Cassie had mentioned has now been set up. It’s a storage room turned into a bedroom so it’s pretty small but they manage to get a bed in there along with a small wardrobe and a small chest of draws. It wasn’t a lot but it’s not like Tim had a lot of belongings anyway.</p>
<p>While it was nice to have his own private space sometimes it felt wrong. At times the room felt too small and it made him feel claustrophobic, especially since there were no windows. The bed sometimes felt to hard and he would just be tossing and turning on it. It made him miss his own bedroom back home. Like his pillow, <em>god he misses his pillow, </em>and his own blanket. Just the little things that he once took for granted.</p>
<p>He gets by though. It’s nice that they’ve created the room for him and he appreciates it.</p>
<p>To pass the time, they would occasionally play a few games, have the entertainment night that Bart got to decide what they do, work and chat.</p>
<p>Tim’s arm was still healing and from what he could tell it was healing nicely. Another couple of days and it should hopefully be back to normal. He’s been keeping an eye on it and treating it to the best of his abilities.</p>
<p>Eventually they enter the next planet’s atmosphere and Tim observes the descent from the window in the common room. The planet was filled with what looked like trees, well, at least if trees had dark blue leaves and purple trunks. By this point he wasn’t even surprised any more. The amount of crazy, beyond imaginable, things he’s seen and discovered while in space, things like this just don’t really shock him anymore. Though the idea of telling his family about all of this is rather amusing. They wouldn’t believe a single thing of it.</p>
<p>The ship descends down to the ground and lands with a thump. Once everything was stable Tim leaves the common room and heads for the cockpit where the others were gathered. He enters the room to find Cassie at the dashboard and Kon and Bart together at the table. He walks overs and claims one of the free seats for himself.</p>
<p>They both look at him as he settles.</p>
<p>“Tim, just to get you up to speed. We’re on the planet Tordar and we’re here because we need to gather up 50 pieces of Pingon,” Kon tells him.</p>
<p>Tim nods his understanding and straightens up when Kon slides a piece of paper across the table to him. He picks the page up and scans it. There was an image of what Tim is assuming they need to collect. It was a golden cylinder shape with what looked like pink coloured spikes sprouting out from the main body and there were large dark blue leaves appearing from one end of it.</p>
<p>It reminded Tim of a pineapple. At least if they were skinner, pink and had blue leaves.</p>
<p>Kon continues speaking, glancing at his team as well as Tim as he does so. “The picture is what we need to collect from this planet. Pingon’s are found hanging low off the trees. So hopefully we can simply grab and go.”</p>
<p>Tim puts the paper down and rubs a hand over his forehead. He sighs and looks up at the alien. “There’s more to it than that isn’t there? It’s never a <em>simple grab and go</em>. So what is it?”</p>
<p>The alien looks uneasy, shifting from foot to foot as he glances at Tim before sharing a look with the other two like he’s reluctant to tell Tim the information.</p>
<p>“Kon.” He presses.</p>
<p>In the end it wasn’t Kon who shares the information with him, it was Bart. Tim whips his head around to look at the speedster.</p>
<p>“A species called Galavent live on this planet and they are dangerous. They’re ferociously territorial, will maim and kill in an instant. They are not fun to be around at all.” He was staring at Tim with an intense expression, this alone was telling Tim Bart wasn’t joking around and this was the truth.</p>
<p>“Right,” Tim drawls, “Avoid killer… Galavents? No problem.”</p>
<p>He starts getting up from the table only to be stopped by Kon speaking up. “Tim, maybe you should stay on the ship for the time being.”</p>
<p>Tim grits his teeth and tries to hide his annoyance. “Why? Because I’m human? Because I don’t have powers like the rest of you?”</p>
<p>Kon open his mouth to say something but seems to reconsider his words. “No. Not because <em>you’re human</em> Tim but because your hurt. It’ll be safe for you on here than out there.”</p>
<p>Tim snorts in disbelief. It was only a matter of time before they would start treating him like he was a delicate piece of glass unable to do anything. He continues standing and pins Kon with a look.</p>
<p>“I’m fine. I have a minor injury, nothing that’ll stop me from doing regular things. I’m going to help you whether you like it or not.” When the alien stays silent, Tim takes that as a win. “I’ll meet you by the door.”</p>
<p>He leaves the room in a tense silent and heads for his own bedroom. If the planet did have dangerous creatures on it, it may be best that he has some sort of weapon. He grabs the metal pole from his room before heading down to the main door of the ship.</p>
<p>About a minute later the three others show up. As he approaches, Kon scowls at him, clearly not happy with this arrangement of Tim joining them out on the planet. Tim fakes a sweet smile, like he was completely innocent in the ordeal. He smiles for real when the only reaction he gets is Kon’s scowl deepening on his face.</p>
<p>As they walk, Tim notices that each of them was carrying something that resembled a large picnic basket. He doesn’t question them about it, figuring that they must be for carrying the pingon’s back to the ship.</p>
<p>The four of them soon leave the ship and step foot onto the planet. Tim was surprised to find it warmer than he expected. With all the trees around them (even though they’re purple) it reminds him of a jungle or forest back home. It was surprisingly light on the planet too, despite all of the leaves blocking the sky, everything was still visible to Tim’s human eyes.</p>
<p>Moving away from the ship, which was parked in the middle of a large clearing, they all enter the tree line and start hunting for the pingon’s they need to collect.</p>
<p>Thankfully the hunt doesn’t take too long for them to find the first bunch of pingon’s. They were indeed hanging low off the branches towards the ground, basically in perfect height for picking.</p>
<p>Tim walks over to one of the trees and studies the fruit. The colours were more vibrant in real life than what they were on paper. It looked like an exotic fruit someone would find in the Caribbean or something. He reaches out and gingerly touches the spikes of the fruit, not knowing what to expect. They were sharp but didn’t feel like they would pierce his skin, once again reminding him of a pineapple.</p>
<p>He grabs the fruit with a hand, pulls it off the branch in one swift movement and weighs the thing in his hands. It didn’t feel heavy like a pineapple does, in fact it was fairly light which was surprising. He wonders over to where Bart was picking a few from off another tree and puts his in Bart’s basket.</p>
<p>Between the four of them they clear that area of fruit fairly quickly and decide to move onto the next area. As he picks the fruit, Tim was half tempted to eat it. Maybe split one open to see what it looked like on the inside and try some of it.</p>
<p>He fiddles with the one in his hands as he glances around to where the others are. They were all too busy with their jobs to pay attention to him. Tim turns back to the fruit and positions his hands where the leaves were and braces himself to pull them off when –</p>
<p>“Tim what are you doing?”</p>
<p>When Cassie’s voice makes him pause. Annoyed he’s been caught, he sighs and turns around. He puts on his best innocent looking expression and shakes his head. “Nothing. Why what’s up?”</p>
<p>Cassie narrows her eyes at him in disbelief. “I’m going to say this now, but don’t eat the pingon’s. If consumed like this,” she holds up the pingon in her hand as demonstration, “unprepped, they can burn your insides. So listen to me and <em>don’t eat the pingon’s.</em> Understand?”</p>
<p>Tim blinks in horror at the fruit. Okay, apparently this is fruit that can burn your insides. This is just another thing to add to the mental <em>‘what the fuck?’ </em>list Tim has currently running inside his head.</p>
<p>“Right, not eating the pingon raw. Got ya.”</p>
<p>He was still tempted to try the fruit of course but Tim’s going to listen because he likes his insides functioning and wants to keep it that way. Shaking the thoughts of burning insides out of his head, Tim continues with the task at hand. The quicker they finish the better.</p>
<p>They spend a little over an hour collecting all the fruit they need and gather a few more for themselves to have a treat at a later date. Once finished they begin to head back to the ship. The aliens were carrying the baskets while Tim walked behind them, lazily swinging his pole around with each step.</p>
<p>He doesn’t know when it started, but he knows when he first recognised the feeling. All the hair on the back of his neck suddenly stands up and goose bumps appear on his skin as he shivers. An uneasy feeling washes over him as he travels behind the aliens. It went on for a little while and the feeling wouldn’t go away.</p>
<p>Tim was sure something was watching him.</p>
<p>He stops walking to observe his surroundings, looking for anything unusual (or something that looked out of place at least) however all he could see were the thick trunks of the trees, hanging fruit and the dark blue leaves.</p>
<p>Tim takes a deep breath and lets it out before shaking his head. He’s just being paranoid, that’s all. Overthinking things and letting his imagination get the better of him.</p>
<p>Turning back around, Tim continues walking now picking up his speed to catch up with the others who were further up ahead and hadn’t noticed he stopped. Tim only travelled several meters when the growling started. It was a low sound that shook him right through his core, something that made him freeze on the spot.</p>
<p>He tries to control his breathing in order to stop himself from panicking, his heart starts pounding inside of his chest and all of his muscles in his body were frozen and tense.</p>
<p>The growling’s coming from behind him and it felt like it was getting louder by the second. His brain was screaming two different things at him. One was to run. Run and don’t look back. The second, was to turn around to see what was there.</p>
<p>Ever the curious human, Tim goes with the second option and stupidly turns around. He keeps his movements slow and steady so he doesn’t startle whatever is behind him.</p>
<p>Tim’s breath catches inside of his throat when he finally faces what was behind him. Hanging from a tree there was a huge monkey-like creature. It was staring at Tim with two black orbs for eyes, its long razer teeth were borne in a snarl as it growls at him.</p>
<p>For a moment Tim thought it was a baboon. The colour of the fur was the same and its body was similar. The main differences however was the size and the fact this thing was eyeing Tim up like he was candy.</p>
<p>Tim didn’t know what to do. He’s sure if he makes a move the monkey will pounce and after getting a glimpse of its claws Tim would rather not chance it.</p>
<p>Swallowing thickly Tim decides to take a cautious step back away from the animal. His eyes never leave the thing as he starts slowly backing away. If he doesn’t startle or aggravate it, fingers crossed, he’ll come out of this alive.</p>
<p>Tim’s method appeared to be working. The monkey doesn’t make a move against him as he backs away.</p>
<p>“Tim? Where are you?”</p>
<p>The sudden shout makes him jump and he holds his breath as the monkey seems to stiffen up in front of him and the growling increases in volume. Tim doesn’t dare look behind him though. He feels like if he moves his attention away from the creature then the animal will make a move. Almost like a spider you’re trying to capture, you keep watching it so you don’t lose it.</p>
<p>“I’m here.” Tim calls back carefully. Not too loud so he doesn’t startle the thing. “Um, something’s come up.”</p>
<p>“What do you me -oh.”</p>
<p>Now Tim could feel another presence behind him. However unlike before this one doesn’t feel threatening or put him on edge.</p>
<p>“Tim remember what we said on the ship. That’s a Galavent.”</p>
<p>Tim huffs, because of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be?</p>
<p>“What do we do?” He asks the alien. He can make a few guesses himself but he’s out of his element here and does not want to do anything wrong.</p>
<p>Before Kon could reply even more growling echoes around them. From above, the leaves all rustle and a glance up shows more monkeys – Galavents – appearing. Tim’s eyes widen at the realisation that they’re surrounded.</p>
<p>The animal in front of Tim finally moves. It drops down to the ground with a thump, and starts stalking towards Tim. It snarls and growls at him as it gets closer. With fear Tim starts backing up, no longer caring about careful movements. The animal in front just takes that as an invitation to move quicker, letting out a roar as it starts speeding towards him.</p>
<p>After that, it was like hell all broke loose.</p>
<p>As the Galavent charged towards him, Tim let out a yell and turned tail and ran, almost falling over as he does so. Kon, who was standing behind him, shouted and also ran with him. From behind, the monkeys all followed, letting out their roars, snarls and growls as they chased them.</p>
<p>“Get to the ship!” He hears Kon scream at him but Tim wasn’t really paying attention.</p>
<p>Sprinting through the trees, they scramble to get away from the animals pursuing them. Together they somehow make it to the clearing where the ship was but only to be stopped short. Next to him, Kon goes flying as a Galavent lands on his back and tackles him to the ground.</p>
<p>“Kon!”</p>
<p>Tim doesn’t get a chance to dwell on Kon being attacked because suddenly he was thrown to the side. When he hits the ground he rolls a few times before landing on his back, he barely gets the chance to react before a monkey was coming at him from above. Letting out a scream Tim uses the pole he still had to block the monkey’s attack as it lands on him.</p>
<p>Large fangs were snapping at him and sharp claws trying to rip him to shreds. Tim uses all of his might to keep it away from him.</p>
<p>Just as his arms were about to give out, the weight of the monkey disappears. Tim blinks in surprise at the sudden change of events and again as Bart materializes out of nowhere above him. He smirks down at Tim before darting off again.</p>
<p>Swallowing Tim scrambles up onto his feet and swings with the metal pole as one of the monkeys jump up at him. The pole hits it clean in the head and knocks it down. Tim swings a second time to knock another down which comes from above. He knocks it down to the ground and hits it again to try and knock it out. When it no longer moves Tim stops his motions and straightens back up looking for the next immediate threat.</p>
<p>A yell from his right gets his attention. It was Cassie wrestling one of the creatures on the floor. Her hands were locked around it’s jaw in attempts to keep it from biting her head off. Without even thinking about it, Tim’s moving. He sprints over to Cassie and bodily tackles the animal off her.</p>
<p>Because of his momentum, the two of them go sprawling over the ground. Tim loses track of the animal as he rolls several times before coming to a stop on his front. He shakes his head and tries to get past the dizziness that’s currently taken over.</p>
<p>His luck seems to run out there because unfortunately something lands on his back before he could get his head together. The impact winds him, leaving him breathless and then there’s the piercing pain that erupts in his shoulder. He lets out a curdling scream and thrashes wildly in an attempt to buck the thing off his back.</p>
<p>The pain somehow worsens as it seems to travel down from his shoulder to the middle of his back. Tim lets out another sound as he feels his skin split open and warmth spread across his back. Tears were forming in his eyes and there nothing else but pain.</p>
<p>From there it becomes a blur. Things just all mould into one. At some point the weight disappears off his back, there were shouts of what he thinks was his name but all that registered in Tim’s mind was the pain coming from his shoulder and back.</p>
<p>When something else touches him, he weakly fights it off, however that something was persistent and easily bats away Tim’s sluggish strikes. He screams again when more pain explodes inside of him.</p>
<p>He must have blacked out or something because the next thing he knows it that his face was being pushed into something soft underneath him. Unknown things were still touching him, there was a noise which sounded like a voice surrounding him but he couldn’t make it out and the main thing was there was still overwhelming pain coming from his back.</p>
<p>He yells again when something touches his back, causing another jolt to go through him. He tries to get away, tries to escape from what was hurting but he’s forced to stay still by a force. With his pain-fogged mind, Tim couldn’t work out what it was, but he didn’t actually care, he just wanted to get away from it.</p>
<p>After futile attempts to wiggle free, he whimpers. The whimper turns into a hoarse scream when it somehow gets worse. Tim’s never felt anything like this before. It must have been too much for him to handle because the last thing he remembers is letting out that scream and then nothing.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope this was okay! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and hopefully it felt alright to read as in it flowed okay and you could understand what was going on, especially at the end there. </p>
<p>I hope you all enjoyed it and please stay tuned for the next update! :D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So just as a note I am not a doctor so I apologize for any medical inaccuracies but please keep in mind that this is set in space, so not everything will be done accurately! Also as a forewarning there is talk of blood and injury treatment in the form of cauterization. </p><p>I hope you enjoy! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Put him on the bed.”</p><p>Having no clue on what to do, Kon follows Cassie’s order and places Tim onto the bed. With Bart’s help they get him situated so he’s lying on his front with his face pressed into the pillow at the end of the bed.</p><p>Kon backs away and stares at Tim’s body where blood was still seeping from his back and was drenching the clothing he had on. The human was so still in that moment, it was like he was dead. One moment he had been screaming blood curdling cries and then the next there was nothing, it was terrifying.</p><p>Kon hadn’t seen what happened. One moment he was wrestling with a Galavent and the next he hears a scream coming from Tim. It wasn’t hard to piece together what had happened. When he screamed the human had been on the floor on his front with a Galavent on his back, the creature’s claws were lodged into Tim’s skin and was dragging them through his skin. That was until Cassie tackled the thing off Tim and launched it back into the trees.</p><p>After that Cassie had rushed to Tim’s side while he and Bart dealt with the surrounding Galavents. From the corner of his eye, he could see Cassie attempting to help Tim but the human was weakly pushing her away. When she finally touched his back Tim had let out that gut retching scream before falling silent.</p><p>At that point, Kon tossed a Galavent to the side and rushed over to them. Cassie instantly looked up at him. “Take him to the medical room. <em>Now</em>. Bart and I are right behind you.”</p><p>Kon reacted without thinking. He gently picked Tim’s bloody body up with his hands and used his telekinesis to help support it as he carried him to the ship. As Cassie had said, her and Bart were right behind him shielding him from any potential attacks. Once in the ship they immediately close the doors and all rush to the medical room.</p><p>The entire time Tim had been weightless and lifeless in his arms. Kon would have thought he was dead if he didn’t hear the heartbeat from within the body. It was weak but it was there.</p><p>Once in the room Cassie seemed to take over. She rushes around collecting an array of items from a variety of places and puts them down by the bed.</p><p>Bart’s also stood by, watching nervously with wide eyes. “Whatareyoufdoing? Whatarewedoing? Willhebealright? He’snotgoingtodieishe? Idon’twantTimtodie!”</p><p>“Bart!” Cassie snaps at him, levelling him with a glare. “Shut up! We need to clean the wound and patch him up before he completely bleeds out.”</p><p>Kon stares bewildered as Cassie puts some gloves on and starts pulling on Tim’s tattered shirt that was covering his wounded skin. Underneath her, Tim suddenly cries out. He starts shifting on the bed, jerking every time Cassie touches his back.</p><p>She looks over at Kon. “I need you to pin him down.” Kon blinks at her, trying to process what she meant. “Kon, hold him down with your telekinesis so I can treat him.”</p><p>Swallowing, Kon stumbles closer to the bed and gently lays his hand on Tim’s arm. He wills his power to wash over Tim like a thin cover, one that gently pins him on the bed so he would stop moving around. He feels Tim weakly fight against the hold and Kon just feels awful for having to put him through this, especially when he lets out a low, painful sound. One of which turns into a scream as Cassie prods his bloody skin, getting the fabric away from the wound.</p><p>Just like before Tim suddenly goes quiet and becomes lifeless. It must have all been to much for him and his body’s just given out. Kon quickly checks his heart and finds it still beating but not the same as before.</p><p>When he next looks up he finds Cassie cutting away Tim’s shirt, finally removing the fabric off his skin. Kon blinks as Tim’s back gets uncovered, he’s seen a variety of unpleasant things in his lifetime but Tim’s bloody and wounded skin was just horrifying.</p><p>He has no idea how Cassie seemed to be level-headed and calm in that moment. A quick glance at Bart tells him that he’s experiencing something similar to Kon. The speedster was stood by vibrating on the spot while chewing on his fingers, looking like he was trying to not freak out.</p><p>The two of them watch as Cassie works on Tim. She douses a cloth in a clear liquid before carefully wiping it over Tim’s wounds. Even in its lifeless state, the human body seems to twitch at the actions. Seeing that happen makes Kon cringe, he can’t even begin to imagine how painful it was.</p><p>She does this several times until the whole wound had been cleaned, most of the blood having been removed which now allows them to see the damage done to Tim’s back. Four large gashes stretch across from his shoulder to the middle of his back. All four gashes has split the skin apart, allowing blood to seep through and <em>a lot of it</em>. Despite Cassie wiping away what was there it was still coming up and pooling over Tim’s back.</p><p>Cassie hisses and looks around frantically. “We need to stop the bleeding. He’s already lost a lot and can’t afford to lose anymore.”</p><p>“How do we stop it? The wounds are too big to simply cover with a bandage.” Bart states staring at the sight.</p><p>Cassie hesitates, clearly trying to think of something. Kon had no ideas. His species doesn’t tend to get injured like Tim has been so he’s never had to deal with an injury so severe before. In a similar fashion neither does Bart’s or Cassie’s species, it makes him wonder how she knows what to do. He’ll have to question her later on.</p><p>Her gasp brings Kon out of his thoughts, She turns her sharp gaze onto Bart. “I need you to go to the common room and find something metal. Something that can be heated up and has a wide surface area.”</p><p>Bart looks confused but nods and speeds out of the room. Kon shoots her a look, “Why do you need something metal?”</p><p>She doesn’t look at him as he once again wipes away the fresh blood from Tim’s wound. “Because we’re going to cauterize the wound.”</p><p>Kon blinks. “I’m sorry what? We’re doing what now?”</p><p>“We’re cauterizing the cuts.” She states finally looking at him. Her expression was serious as she explains what she means. “We don’t have the right equipment to give him stitches, mostly because we’ve never needed the stuff in the first place. The only thing I can think of that’ll stop the bleeding quick enough is to cauterize the wound, it’ll close it up and stop the bleeding. It’s a form of treatment I remember that was performed a couple of times on Themyscira.”</p><p>“So why do you need something metal?”</p><p>She gives him an annoyed look like he was being really stupid. It wasn’t his fault! He genuinely doesn’t know these things! Cassie goes to say something but is stopped by Bart appearing by her side holding up the biggest knife they have.</p><p>“Will this do?”</p><p>Cassie takes it from him and wipes it down with the same liquid she did with Tim. “It’s perfect. Afterwards she thrusts it out to Kon. “You need to heat it up.”</p><p>Kon stares at her. “<em>What?”</em></p><p>She huffs. “Use your lasers and heat up the metal, but not to the point where it’s glowing red. This is how we cauterize the wound. Once the knife is heated I’ll press it against Tim’s skin and close off the wound.”</p><p>Kon has no idea what is happening anymore. So Cassie wants to basically burn Tim’s skin in order to save him? Surely that’s counterproductive.</p><p>“Kon, if you don’t, <em>Tim will die</em>. Now do it.” At her words he gingerly takes the handle of the knife and starts to heat it up. As he does that Cassie turns to Bart. “Bart I need you to put gloves on and wipe away the excess blood just before I press the knife there understand?”</p><p>Once the knife was ready he passes it over to Cassie, she and Bart work together and start treating Tim’s wounds. It was horrible to watch. Every time the knife pressed against Tim’s skin Kon flinched, it made him feel the pain even though it wasn’t happening to him. He’s glad Tim seemed to be out of it to realise what was going on.</p><p>It takes a while but eventually they finish the treatment. The wounds were no longer bleeding which was the desired intention and all that was left were four dark and vile looking lines across Tim’s back. After taking a breath, Cassie goes over the wounds one last time, wiping them down gently and then applying a large bandage over the top of it.</p><p>Kon and Bart let her work and finish up. Once she was done she turns to them. “That should do it for now, but I can’t say that he’ll be completely fine. All we can do is wait until he wakes up and goes from there. Come on, lets move to the cockpit, we can do regular checks on him.”</p><p>They all take a moment to clean up and move to the cockpit, when they get there the three of them automatically go to their own sections. They were still on the planet and find that the Galavents have all settled around the ship. Kon settles down in the pilot seat and prepares for them to take off. The sooner they’re off this planet the better.</p><p>“Where are the pingon’s?” Kon questions as he starts up the ship.</p><p>“The baskets are down below. We managed to get them onto the ship before getting attacked.” Bart answers from behind him.</p><p>“Good.” At least they still got what they came for and don’t have to confront the Galavents again.</p><p>Kon gets them into the air and expertly guides them off the planet. Down below the Galavents make a huge deal of the ship leaving and try to fight against it. Their attempts are futile and once they were high enough in the air, the species finally lets them go and disappear into the trees.</p><p>Once they were in space, Kon puts the ship on hold and turns to the rest of his crew. After several moments of silence he turns to Cassie who was sat next to him. “How did you do it? How did you know what to do with Tim or how you kept a level head during that time?”</p><p>Cassie avoids his gaze and clenches her jaw as she stares at the ground. She crosses her arms over her chest almost defensively and lets out a sigh. “On Themyscira, there were weapons that could harm us. We used them when we trained and when we fought. They were designed purposely to be able to harm Amazon’s, this was supposed to help us become better warriors.</p><p>Of course from that came battle wounds, we had to learn how to treat the wounds and perform emergency treatments. I picked up a few things but not everything. I didn’t know about burns or anything of the sort that Tim received last time but open wounds like he got today I do know about.”</p><p>Kon takes that in. In all the time he’s known Cassie, he never knew <em>that</em> about her.</p><p>“The weapons purely stay on Themyscira, so not a lot else out in the universe can hurt us but it’s good knowledge to have especially when it can help other species we interact with.”</p><p>“Well at least you had the knowledge. I had no idea on what to do.” Kon admits sending a smile her way when she finally looks at him.</p><p>“I didn’t either.” Bart chimes in. “I’ve got some basics down, but not to the extent we had to do today. Maybe you could teach us some more things, especially with Tim on board. He’s been hurt twice already! How many more times can he be injured and in what other ways?”</p><p>Kon nods, agreeing with his idea. “That isn’t a bad idea, it may be worth knowing different ways to treat injuries. Speaking of which, what do we do about Tim now?”</p><p>Cassie shrugs. “It’s hard to say. On Themyscira, if you were injured you would heal within hours, maybe close to a day then you’re good as new. Obviously with Tim that isn’t the case. Didn’t he tell us it takes multiple days close to weeks for wounds to heal? Humans have a slow healing rate or something?”</p><p>“So we just keep the wound clean and hope for the best?” Bart asks frowning.</p><p>“Perhaps.” Kon hums. He then gets an idea and turns to Cassie. “What’s our next stop? Would we be able to find somewhere that maybe produces some sort of increased healing factor, maybe a potion or an ointment. Human’s aren’t the only species around that have slow healing factors so surely there’s got to be something somewhere that could help Tim recover faster.”</p><p>Cassie stares at him before glancing away as if thinking about what he’s suggesting. After a moment she looks back at him, “I can have a look around, sure, but I can’t promise any results.”</p><p>Kon nods. “It’s better than nothing. So next steps; we find somewhere that produces something to increase healing factors, plan our route to the next item we need to collect and simply keep an eye on Tim and hope he doesn’t die.”</p><p>His crew nod in agreement and offer him tight smiles. It wasn’t ideal and having someone injured severely onboard wasn’t a pleasant thing but all they could do now was to try and make it better.</p>
<hr/><p>The journey to the next planet would take several days. It wasn’t one they needed to collect any items from but according to what Cassie had been able to find, this planet has several markets which sells a variety of items from all around. The chances that they could find an increasing healing factor substance was pretty high, hence why they were going there.</p><p>They all checked on Tim in hour intervals, making sure he was still breathing and that his wounds were no longer bleeding. The treatment Cassie had performed seems to be doing its job and is stopping any bleeding from happening.</p><p>It was a good day or so before Tim finally woke up for the first time since going lifeless when they performed the treatment. The three of them had been worried because Tim was out far longer than what he normally would have been if he was just sleeping. When he finally wakes up they let out a sigh of relief.</p><p>The human wasn’t right however, he woke up and seemed to be extremely confused. He couldn’t remember where he was, what happened or even who they are. It didn’t really matter because Tim doesn’t stay awake very long. He mutters a few words, lets out a cry of pain before falling asleep again.</p><p>It was a very bizarre moment to witness.</p><p>When Tim wakes up a second time he’s once again just as confused as before and it takes both him and Bart to explain what the situation was. At their words Tim pulls a face and starts trying to get up, which they had to immediately put a stop to. He wasn’t happy about it but quickly stops fighting when apparently the pain gets too much and he lets out a scream.</p><p>Kon feels bad for Tim. He has no idea how much pain the human was currently in but seeing Tim flinch with every movement made him feel awful. Bart, who must have been having similar feelings, suggests about getting Tim to take the medicine he had for his teeth when they made him have the universal translator implanted. That medicine stopped the pain in his mouth so hopefully it would help with his back too, even if it was a little bit.</p><p>Tim stays awake long enough to take the medicine and down some water before falling asleep again.</p><p>It was on the third day traveling to the next planet that Tim wakes up and seems to be more coherent with things. He was still in immense pain but he seemed to know where he was and can vaguely remember what happened.</p><p>The three of them quickly fill him in on it, telling him what they had done to get the bleeding to stop and what they’re planning next. Tim takes it all in and nods but doesn’t offer any comments.</p><p>At this point he was still lying on the bed they have in the medical room as none of them had wanted to move him just in case they worsen the injury. Even after three days the injury didn’t look any better than what it did when it first happened.</p><p>Bart is the first one to react when Tim begins to shift on the bed, letting out a moan as he tries to push himself up. The speedster blurs next to him and gently pushes him back down.</p><p>“I wouldn’t move Tim. You’re still badly injured, as in like it hasn’t even healed a little bit over the last few days.”</p><p>Tim shoots him a look but slumps back down onto the bed and buries his face into the pillow, letting out a long moan as he does so.</p><p>Kon and Bart share a look and a shrug, both of them baffled by his behaviour. “Uh Tim?” Kon says unsurely, “You okay?”</p><p>Tim snaps his head up and sends Kon a glare. “No. I am <em>not okay.</em> I am in an incredible amount of pain and can’t seem to move an inch without it flaring up and I have one helluva of a headache. My body has seized up because I haven’t moved in who knows how long and I feel dirty. So no, Kon, <em>I am not okay.</em>”</p><p>That rant seemed to have tired Tim out because he places his head back down on the pillow and promptly goes back to sleep. Kon blinks at his still figure for a while before moving his gaze to Bart who was also staring at Tim with wide eyes.</p><p>“He’s a bit cranky isn’t he?” Bart comments.</p><p>Kon shakes his head. “I have no idea. One moment he’s awake and then he’s not. When he’s awake he yells at us before sleeping again. Human’s are weird.”</p><p>Bart snorts. “That’s one way of putting it.”</p><p>They reach the planet two days later. In that time Tim seems to be staying awake for longer periods of time which was great to see because it meant he was slowly getting back to normal, however he was still bed bound. Or at least they make him stay on the bed to stop him from aggravating his injuries further.</p><p>There were a few times that they had to help Tim so he could go relieve himself and give his body a quick wash (though they had to wipe his back as Tim couldn’t move enough to do it himself). They also had to help him change clothes, much to his displeasure Tim couldn’t change on his own and reluctantly accepted the help.</p><p>Throughout that time, Tim was still cranky and would often snap at them. He would apologize to them sometime later, explaining that his behaviour was because of the pain he was in and how he was just frustrated with the situation.</p><p>Eventually he let them clean the cuts, change the bandage and treat the wound on his arm (which was almost healed by now) without any protests. That was progress in building up the trust between them, even if it was only a small step.</p><p>When they land on the planet, it gets decided that Cassie and Bart will go out and get what they need. Kon will stay on the ship and look after Tim. The human argues against that, claiming he didn’t need a ‘baby-sitter’ (whatever that was) and how he would be fine on his own. None of them believed him so Kon was the chosen to stay with him.</p><p>At first Kon was in the cockpit, going through some files when he suddenly hears a bang come from within the ship. Becoming alert, he drops the paper onto the table and goes to explore. As he leaves the cockpit he extends his hearing out and finds that the commotion is coming from the medical room.</p><p>Wasting no time Kon rushes to the room and bursts in through the door, only to stop short when he finds Tim sprawled out on the floor, struggling to get back up.</p><p>“Tim!” Kon darts over to him, gently grabs the human by the armpits (trying to be careful of his shoulder) and starts hauling him up, he was planning on putting Tim back on the bed but Tim starts protesting and tries to shove Kon away.</p><p>“No. Not on the bed. I am sick of lying down! I need to move and do something!”</p><p>“Tim. Tim! You’re just going to make your injuries worse.” Kon tries to reason with him but the human wasn’t having any of it.</p><p>“I don’t care! I need to get out of this room and move about. It’s my back and shoulder that’s in pain, my legs are fine!”</p><p>In the end Kon gets Tim to stand up but pins him still with his telekinesis so he wouldn’t hurt himself further. They stare at one another, clearly trying to intimidate the other into submitting but Kon wasn’t having any of it. He glares at the human in front of him and tries to think of an alternative because he understands that lying in one place for days on end can’t be nice, but it’s not like Kon can just let him move around freely.</p><p>He eventually gets an idea. “How about we move you to your room or the common room? But you have to promise to lie down when we get there.”</p><p>Tim opens his mouth but Kon continues to pin him with a look. “It’s either this or I pin you to that bed. I don’t want Cassie shouting at me because I let you wonder around.”</p><p>The human blinks at him before averting his gaze. He lets out a sharp breath. “Fine. We’ll go to the common room then please.”</p><p>Kon nods and drops his telekinesis. Tim takes a deep breath and slowly steps forward only to instantly collapse, he would have hit the floor if Kon hadn’t caught him.</p><p>“Stupid legs.” Tim mutters angrily. “They’ve seized up from where I haven’t walked in days.”</p><p>Kon feels sorry for him but before he could do anything Tim was pushing him away again and trying to balance himself on his own. Knowing that Tim wasn’t going to give up, because apparently humans are stubborn creature’s, Kon takes hold of Tim’s arms and lets Tim balance against him.</p><p>Tim doesn’t look pleased with the idea but he lets it go and grabs tightly onto Kon’s forearms as he takes a shaky step forward. Together they make their way down the corridor and to the common room. Tim was mostly walking on his own by the time they get there however he was wincing with each step and his face was contorted with pain. Kon helps Tim to lie down on his front when they reach the plush seat.</p><p>The human sighs and relaxes into the seat, like he was relived to be off his feet. Kon sits down beside him. “How’s the pain?”</p><p>“Bearable.” Tim grits out. Despite his words, Kon doesn’t believe him.</p><p>Choosing not to comment on it, Kon gets up from the seat and heads back to the medical room to pick something up. When he returns he’s almost convinced that Tim had fallen asleep until blue eyes peer up at him.</p><p>“You don’t have a lot of medicine left. Do you want to take some?” Kon asks looking at Tim and then the pot in his hand.</p><p>Tim stays silent for a moment. He soon shakes his head. “No. Save them for another time as are there aren’t many left. I can handle this, I’m fine.”</p><p>Kon wanted to point out that he didn’t appear fine but he chooses to stay quiet, deciding that the argument wasn’t worth it. In the end he settles down next to Tim again, turns on the entertainment screen and selects something at random. There’s not a lot to do now until the others return.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The stuff with Cassie and Themyscira, I just made it up for this story. My knowledge of Canon regarding Themyscira and Amazon's isn't up to scratch hence why I made this up. Sorry if that annoys you but hey, it's a fanfiction at the end of the day, I'm just writing this for fun which it has been so far! </p><p>Thank you for reading this story and the continued support on it. It's wonderful to know that people are reading this and are enjoying it! It's really appreciated so thank you!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Tim? Tim you awake?”</p>
<p>Tim blinks his eyes open and raises his head up off the pillow he had buried his face into. It takes a moment for his vision to focus and once it does he finds Cassie and Bart looking down at him.</p>
<p>He lets out a groan and nods, “Yeah I’m awake, what’s up?” Out of habit he stretches, momentarily forgetting the wound on his back until pain was shooting through his body. Tim lets out a hiss and drops his head back down onto the pillow he had been using.</p>
<p>Right, he has a gaping wound on his back. How could he forget that? Tim takes a moment to fully wake up, he doesn’t know how long he had been asleep for but the last thing he remembers was that it was just him and Kon on the ship as the others had gone off looking for something. He and Kon made their way to the common room while they waited and he must have accidently fallen asleep in the meantime.</p>
<p>He turns his head to properly look at the aliens the best he could considering his position. It sucks. His back was still causing him so much pain that any major movements aggravated it. His memories of getting the cut were still hazy, he can’t fully remember what happened but he has a rough idea of it, especially after the others explained what happened. Thank god that they were able to stop the bleeding or else he would be dead.</p>
<p>The situation sucks though. He could barely move, was in constant pain and he always felt tired and frustrated at everything. He couldn’t even do the most basic tasks himself at the moment like changing clothes, he needed their help because he could barely lift his arm without it hurting.</p>
<p>Something bops his nose and breaks his line of thoughts. He frowns when he sees Bart’s smiling face looking down at him.</p>
<p>“You weren’t listening.” He says as if that explains everything.</p>
<p>Tim sighs. “Sorry. What was you saying?”</p>
<p>“So Bart and I went exploring.” Cassie says looking down at him. “We found a cream that helps to increase a species healing factor. We were hoping that it’ll help you out, we’ll spread it over your wound every couple of hours for a few days and it should help it to heal faster.”</p>
<p>Tim narrows his eyes at them, thinking it through. He vaguely remembers them talking about getting something that was supposed to help him heal faster, though he honestly wasn’t expecting them to be able to find anything. Turns out they did in fact find something which was great, however he knows there’s more to it, there always is.</p>
<p>“What are the side effects?” He questions suspiciously.</p>
<p>“All they said when we brought it was that there may be some stinging involved when applied to the wounded area.”</p>
<p>Tim considers this for a moment, debating whether it was worth it or not. A wound like he has would normally take around a month to heal and a few additional weeks before he could fully twist and turn and use his shoulder without it hurting. That’s without any complications like infection or further injury.</p>
<p>If this cream does work, the wound could be healed within days.</p>
<p>In the end he gives a half-hearted wave with his free hand. “Sure, go for it.” He mutters into the pillow.</p>
<p>He doesn’t pay the aliens much attention as they shuffle around him, but soon enough he feels hands grab the hem of the shirt he’s wearing and starts to carefully pull it up his back. When it gets halfway the motion stops.</p>
<p>“Tim we’re going to need to take this off.” Cassie says from somewhere next to him.</p>
<p>Tim lets out an annoyed groan and starts shifting about to push himself up, however before he could do it himself there was an invisible force working its way between him and the sofa that begins to lift his chest up off it.</p>
<p>Tim blinks and tries to come to terms with the fact that nothing was holding him up. That same force starts to gently remove his shirt off of him, it holds his injured shoulder still as it works the material off one arm, then off his head and off the other arm, all without causing him much pain. Once the shirt was removed the force gently lowers him back down onto the sofa on his front.</p>
<p>“Thanks Kon.” Cassie says above him.</p>
<p>Tim frowns and starts squirming, he twists his head around to try and look at the said alien. “What did you do?” Kon blinks at him as if confused by the question so Tim clarifies. “Just then, that invisible force, that was you? How?”</p>
<p>“It’s telekinesis. Well tactile telekinesis. It’s one of my powers, did you not know this?”</p>
<p>“Huh, no I didn’t.” Tim mumbles lying back down. He’s learning something new every day. He’ll have to question Kon on it later once his back was healed because in that moment it was causing him some grief and making it hard to concentrate on anything for a long period of time.</p>
<p>Once he was settled he feels hands gently touch his skin and without meaning to Tim flinches in both pain and surprise. The hands on his back carefully move to remove the bandage that was covering his back and shoulder, once it was off the fingers begin to carefully prod the wounded area.</p>
<p>A particular prod makes him wince and he protests. “Ow! Knock it off!” If he could bat away the hands he would, Tim really doesn’t appreciate all the poking and prodding of his sensitive skin.</p>
<p>“Cranky.” Cassie comments. There was a beat before she speaks up again. “I’m going to cover your back in this cream, it’ll probably hurt so be prepared… actually Kon can you hold him down.”</p>
<p>Before Tim could say anything that invisible force was back and covered him like a blanket. He could feel it float over his skin, as it settles around his arms and wrists pinning them down, as it covers his hips and legs which forces them to press against the sofa. He couldn’t move even if he wanted to.</p>
<p>And wasn’t that a terrifying thought, that Kon could effectively pin him down without even trying to or without barely touching him.</p>
<p>Tim’s brought out of his thoughts when something cold touches his skin. He jerks at the touch but Kon’s hold made sure he stayed still, it was only seconds after the initial touch that the stinging started. He involuntarily lets out a yell and starts trying to get away from it, not that he could. It burned and he wanted nothing more than to wipe it away and get that cream off of his skin.</p>
<p>A few tears escape his eyes as he buries his face into the pillow. Through gritted teeth Tim lets out another noise which happens to get lost within the object underneath him. The stinging spreads from his shoulder down to his back and doesn’t seem to go away, he could barely make out the gentle hand applying the cream over his wounds through the pain.</p>
<p>Eventually the stinging starts to fade and he lets out a long sigh. As it fades Tim feels himself starting to relax again, his muscles loosening up after being tense for so long and the invisible force that had been holding him down finally withdraws, freeing his limbs now he was no longer fighting against it.</p>
<p>“Tim, you okay?” He hears Cassie ask.</p>
<p>Letting out a sharp breath, Tim turns his head to the side so he could see her. “I’m peachy.” At her blank stare he corrects himself. “I’m fine, thanks. Not something I want to go through again though.”</p>
<p>He slumps back down and closes his eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted. Why did being injured leave him with next to no energy? It sucks and hates everything about it. As he lays there he lets his mind drift and barely pays any attention to the others. Cassie places another bandage over his back but they leave the shirt off this time. Someone else, he thinks that it was possibly Bart, covers him with a blanket which he mumbles his gratitude for and snuggles as much as he could into it.</p>
<p>Tim must have fallen asleep because when he next opens his eyes back up, he was alone in the room and he felt quite groggy. His mind takes a moment to wake up and as it does, Tim wipes weakly at his eyes to remove any sleep but he doesn’t make a move to get up.</p>
<p>He doesn’t know why but he just didn’t feel like moving. He didn’t want to get up. Did he even need to get up? The wound on his back wasn’t currently aggravating him, which was nice, he was buried underneath the blanket, which was surprisingly comfy, and he didn’t have any reason to get up that day. No work meetings to go to, no friends to go and see, no family gatherings to get ready for.</p>
<p>But the main reason he didn’t want to get up was because he felt like crap.</p>
<p>His back wasn’t causing him any pain in that moment so it wasn’t a physical thing, just more of a mental thing. Recently his emotions seem to be everywhere, but that could be to do with the fact he’s currently injured and in pain, he was constantly tired and just frustrated at everything.</p>
<p>He felt like crap and wanted to go home. He wanted to be with his family and friends, he misses his brothers, his adoptive father, his friends, his home and just his life. He didn’t want to be in space, surrounded by aliens and was completely way out of his element.</p>
<p>He misses Earth.</p>
<p>While he drowns in his sullen thoughts, Tim simply stares ahead at the entertainment screen opposite him. It doesn’t help, it only reminds him of all the films and TV shows he was missing back home.</p>
<p>Eventually he was distracted from his thoughts when he gets a visit from the others. Two of them appear beside Tim while it sounds like the other goes to the kitchen part of the room. Kon sits down by his feet on the free part of the sofa, Bart ends up sitting opposite him on the coffee table. Cassie appears moments later, handing a plate to Bart which has what looks like a sandwich on it.</p>
<p>Bart takes it and grins at Tim. “Hey Tim! How are you feeling? Any better? How’s the back, did the cream work?”</p>
<p>Tim could only blink at the speedster as he spoke, eventually shrugging to answer all of his questions.</p>
<p>Bart pouts at him. “What’s the matter? Aren’t you feeling okay? Are you in pain?”</p>
<p><em>Not in physical pain</em> Tim wants to comment, but he doesn’t. Instead he shakes his head and tightens his hold on the blanket around him. “It’s okay Bart, I’m just feeling a bit low that’s all.”</p>
<p>There’s a brief pause where it’s clear that Bart is trying to work out what he means. The speedster glances at the other two, silently communicating with them about the situation, before turning back to Tim. He holds out the sandwich thing towards him.</p>
<p>“Have something to eat. When I feel bad, food always helps me feel better!”</p>
<p>Tim couldn’t help but smile a little at that. The thing with Bart is that no matter what was going on, to the speedster food was always the cure, but Tim appreciates what he was trying to do.</p>
<p>“Thanks Bart but I’m not feeling hungry.” Tim tells him quietly. The ginger alien frowns and places the food down beside him.</p>
<p>“Oh okay,” he sounds lost and Tim hates that he made Bart feel like that, however there wasn’t a lot he could do about it.</p>
<p>He sighs, “I appreciate it Bart but right now I kind of want to be alone. No offense, but I’m not in the mood for anything.” Tim kind of wants to wallow in self-pity alone because it’s easier to deal with and then that way they don’t have to see him break.</p>
<p>Bart blinks at him but doesn’t move away. Instead he leans forward and cocks his head to the side like he was studying him. “I read somewhere that for humans, sometimes talking about things can help. It allows you to express what’s going on inside your minds so it doesn’t build up to the point where you can’t contain it anymore.”</p>
<p>So apparently Bart is now a therapist, brilliant. Tim sighs again and tries to not get annoyed. “Sometimes it does help to talk about things but that doesn’t mean it helps everyone. Each person has their own way of coping.”</p>
<p>“So why don’t you talk to us Tim?” Kon questions, he moves from Tim’s feet to sit beside Bart on the coffee table. “We won’t judge you or anything and if it helps it’s got to be worth it. We want you to be okay.”</p>
<p>God it sounded so earnest that it made him want to sob. These aliens really do care don’t they? They barely know him but they still want to make sure he was alright both <em>physically </em>and <em>mentally.</em></p>
<p>He opens his mouth to gently refuse the offer to talk but he surprises himself when he instead whispers, “I want to go home.”</p>
<p>He looks at the aliens just long enough to see them frown before he averts his eyes. He doesn’t want to see their pitying looks. Tim lets out a sigh and carefully moves, shifting himself so he was sat up right on the sofa and ignores the twinge of pain that comes with the movement. He wraps the blanket around him and clutches it tightly.</p>
<p>“I miss seeing my family, my friends, just easily recognising everything and not being out of place wherever I go. I appreciate everything you guys have done for me but I miss my <em>home</em>. I don’t want to be in space anymore, I miss my life and just want everything to be back as it was.</p>
<p>Why me? Why was I the one to be kidnapped? Why did I have to be the one that was taken away from my home and forced into space slavery. What did I do to deserve this! I have been nothing but beaten up since I’ve been in space, one thing after another. I shouldn’t even be alive at this point!</p>
<p>I just want it all to end, to go home and perhaps treat this whole experience just like one big crazy dream. I’ll go to sleep one day and simply wake up in my bed at the manor where my siblings are next door and my father opposite me in their rooms. Where I’ll wake up and have to go to work to boring old conference meetings, where I then can come home and have the best baked goods from my grandfather, where I get to chill out and watch films with my brothers and play mind numbing video games.</p>
<p>I just wanna go home…”</p>
<p>The last sentence was barely audible as Tim whispers it. He shakes his heads and swallows thickly, trying to keep himself from sobbing too much. There were tears already streaming down his face but he refused to let out the sob. He looks anywhere but at the others who were watching him in a tense silence.</p>
<p>He takes a couple deep breaths and attempts to compose himself. He knew he had been keeping it in, all of those admissions and faraway wishes but it did help to finally have it out in the open. He still felt like crap and there was that sense of longing still inside of him but at least the others finally know what’s going on inside his head.</p>
<p>It stays silent between them all for a good while. Tim didn’t know what to expect now, he just figured that they would get up and leave so he was surprised when they stuck around. Once he felt like he’s somewhat composed he lets himself look up and face the others who were looking at him with a mixture of sadness, guilt, confusion and pity.</p>
<p>“Well, um…” Kon starts hesitantly, “I’m afraid we’re still pretty far from Earth, you won’t be returning there for a long time yet.”</p>
<p>Tim huffs, he knew that of course, it hurt but it was also relief to just hear the truth.</p>
<p>Kon-el gives him a serious look, “Once we’ve completed our job, our plan is to get you home Tim. We promise we’ll do what we can to get you there. Once we’ve returned to Krypton, dropped off the items we can make our way to Earth afterwards.”</p>
<p>Tim feels hope flicker inside of him at hearing those words but he doesn’t comment on them. He tries to not think about it too much because he doesn’t want to get his hopes up for them to only be harshly destroyed.</p>
<p>“Tim.” Cassie gets his attention. The blonde was staring at him like she was studying him. “What did you mean by ‘taken away and forced into space slavery,’ what happened to you?”</p>
<p>Tim looks away and down to the ground, hating the question being asked. He’s known since he’s met them that they would want to know but he’s never shared the story for a reason. He didn’t know how they would take it or what would happen, but now he’s openly admitted it there’s no way to take it back.</p>
<p>And after everything they have done, don’t they finally deserve the truth? He takes a deep breath and begins telling them.</p>
<p>“I was kidnapped, taken, from Earth one night who knows how long ago. I was with my brothers in the middle of nowhere, our car had broken down on the side of the road and we were trying to get help. My eldest brother had walked down the road to the gas station we had passed about 10 minutes before, my other brother at the time was under the car trying to find the damage done to it.</p>
<p>I was wondering around trying to get signal on my phone when it happened. I didn’t even get the chance to shout for help or anything, it just happened in a blink of an eye. One minute I was standing in the middle of the road and the next I happened to be strapped down on a table surrounded by these <em>things</em>. Things I only ever imaged being from movies. It was terrifying.</p>
<p>At the time there was absolutely nothing, <em>nothing at all</em>, in the sky that could have taken me. One second I was there and then the next I wasn’t.”</p>
<p>Tim pauses and runs a hand through his hair. He hates thinking about that day. All of those emotions he had been feeling, but not only for him but for how his brothers had dealt with his sudden disappearance. He shakes his head and moves on, he had come to terms with that part a long time ago.</p>
<p>“I couldn’t understand these things that had me strapped down. No matter how much I thrashed and fought against them I wasn’t breaking free. For what felt like days they kept me tied up. They prodded me with things, made me bleed, cry and scream – it was basically like they were experimenting on me. Seeing what I could do, how much of it I could take before it became too much. I’m surprised they didn’t kill me.</p>
<p>Then one day a man, called the Master, came in but he wasn’t there to help. He made things worse. He got me out of the chains but forced me into these uncomfortable clothes that were locked onto me. He made me serve him and if I didn’t obey I got in trouble. I could tell he had a special interest in me because he didn’t treat any others like he did with me, I could get away with some things that others couldn’t but there was still a line.</p>
<p>For days or months this happened. I tried to escape, I tried to kill them, I tried everything that I could think of but I just couldn’t get away. Hell, I even tried to kill myself but I got caught and they stopped me from doing anything.</p>
<p>One day The Master left the ship and I was left on my own. Taking a chance I decided to try and escape. I stole some clothes from a crew member so I could partially blend in with those who weren’t on active duty and made my way to the pods. I took an old one, one of which didn’t have very much technology in it and just went.</p>
<p>I ended up crashing on a random planet. Once I realised I was fine, I started to beat the shit out of the pod out of anger and then you showed up. You know the rest.”</p>
<p>The silence was back and Tim fidgets from where he was sat. His body having gone numb as he spoke. He stretches his back as much as he could until it started to hurt and slumps into a comfortable position again.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Kon speaks up.</p>
<p>Tim shrugs, he appreciates the sentiment but it was worthless.</p>
<p>“It’s not right you had to endure all of that.” Bart comments from opposite him. “There are still planets that allow slavery to happen, most don’t not anymore, but there are still a few that do.”</p>
<p>“It doesn’t matter does it?” Tim says more harshly than he meant to. “What’s done is done. I got lucky and I got free that’s all that matters. All I can think about is getting back home now. I have no idea how long it’s been since I was taken but all I want is to see my family again.”</p>
<p>Cassie moves from her position and walks around the room before stopping just behind Bart. “Tim, do you know who took you? Or why they took <em>you</em>? It’s odd that a <em>human</em> of all species would be taken. No offense, but you’re nothing special.”</p>
<p>Tim rolls his eyes, “Gee, thanks,” but he knows she has a point. That’s one thing he’s been trying to work out too. “I don’t know why they took me, the only thing I could think of is that they wanted to experiment on me or even show me off. More than once I was paraded around like a trophy.”</p>
<p>“A what now?” Kon cuts in looking confused. Tim waves him off.</p>
<p>“And no I don’t know, I couldn’t understand anything they were saying.” He thinks back to his time as a captive, trying to remember anything when something pops into his mind. “Actually there was a symbol they had. It appeared on all the clothes of those on active duty on the ship, do you have a…”</p>
<p>Bart nods and suddenly disappears before reappearing again seconds later but this time with pen and paper in his hands. He gives it to Tim who roughly draws up the symbol he could remember seeing and holds it up. Stepping forward, Cassie takes it and studies it.</p>
<p>A beat goes by as she looks at the page, before her eyebrows raise up. She shoots Tim a firm look. “Are you sure this is what you saw?”</p>
<p>Tim nods, unsure on what it means. “Yeah that’s what they were wearing. Why what is it? What does it mean? Do you know it?”</p>
<p>“This isn’t good.” She mumbles. Before Tim could question her she hands the paper to Kon who looks it over. A few seconds later his eyes went wide in recognition. Tim gets a gut feeling that whatever it is, it wasn’t a good thing.</p>
<p>“What does it mean?”</p>
<p>Cassie shakes her head in refusal. “Don’t worry. It’s nothing.”</p>
<p>Tim fumes at that. “Clearly it’s something! You guys look like you’re going to be sick! What does that symbol mean? Who was I kidnapped by?”</p>
<p>Cassie ignores him in favour of having a silent conversation with Kon. The two stare at one another for some time until they seem to come to some sort of silent agreement. Kon turns to Bart, “Bart can you help Tim clean up and put some more of the cream over his wound. Once that’s done come meet us in the cockpit, we need to talk.”</p>
<p>Bart seemed to be just as stumped as Tim was. However he nods and agrees while Tim protests.</p>
<p>“What! No! I want to know! What does it mean?”</p>
<p>The aliens ignore him and leave the room without even looking at him. Once their figures had disappeared he looks at Bart with desperation. Maybe the speedster would share some insight with him, he always seemed to be more willing to share knowledge than the others.</p>
<p>Knowing what he was silently asking Bart shakes his head. “Sorry but not this time Tim. Once I’ve spoken to them and discussed whatever it is, then I can talk to you.”</p>
<p>“Bart please.”</p>
<p>The speedster ignores his plea and stands up. He pointedly looks at Tim before reaching forward to unwrap the blanket from around him. “Now come on, it’s cleaning and taking care of wounds time! We can see if that cream has helped out at all. I feel sorry for you that you have a slow healing factor, how do you ever get anything done if you can’t move?”</p>
<p>Tim wanted to protest against it and demand for the answers he has the right to know but he was currently too weak to do anything. He wouldn’t be able to fight the alien off so he simply succumbs to it and lets Bart help him hobble to the shower and to clean up.</p>
<p>Tim will get his answers one way or another. He’ll make sure of it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Poor Tim, he's just going through a tough time right now. </p>
<p>And we finally find out a bit of Tim's background story of what happened to him! I hope this is keeping people interested because I'm having a blast writing this at the moment and knowing that people are enjoying it is a definite bonus. Thank you to everyone who's left a comment or a kudo, it's all appreciated! :D </p>
<p>Also, here's my <a href="https://awhitehead17.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a> if anyone is interested.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I told you!” Cassie screams at him as soon as the door shuts. “I told you from the start that he’s bad news! This just proves my point.”</p>
<p>Kon grits his teeth but doesn’t argue, because yes, she did tell him. She hasn’t really trusted Tim from the moment they found him.</p>
<p>“I can’t believe it. All this time he’s been here with us and we’re just finding out about this now!”</p>
<p>She starts pacing the length of the cockpit and Kon watches her, wisely staying out of her path. “I don’t think it’s as bad as what you’re thinking it could be Cass.” He says eventually, keeping his voice calm.</p>
<p>She stops her pacing and shoots him a sharp look. Kon sighs and takes her silence as his cue to elaborate. “If he was really working for them, surely they would have attacked us by now. We’re not exactly subtle in our movements throughout the galaxy.”</p>
<p>“There are things called pirates and spies Kon. He’s just waiting for the right moment to strike us down. It’s the classic move throughout all of the universe, gain the crew’s trust and then take them out. This is just a step in his plan.”</p>
<p>“Plan for what?” Kon questions sceptically. “To take the ship over? To kill us? Take us as prisoners or slaves? He’s just a human, he <em>can’t</em> beat us.”</p>
<p>Cassie steps into his space and prods his chest menacingly. “That's exactly what he wants us to think. Humans are known to be weak and useless, therefore we would already be underestimating him before he even begins doing anything. That’s why they must have taken him, he’s a useful weapon, one that creates the element of surprise.”</p>
<p>Kon shakes his head and laughs. She sounds ridiculous. While some of her concerns are legit and have real meaning behind them, some of them however are unreasonable. “I think you’re overreacting Cass. Tim just happens to be a poor soul that got dragged into some crap. He simply wants to go home.”</p>
<p>She glares at him, unimpressed. “Of course you would think that! You’re a Kryptonian, your species is probably the most compassionate there is to be… or most of you are, your leaders certainly don’t fit that description.”</p>
<p>Before Kon could respond, the door to the cockpit opens and Bart slides through the gap before closing it again. There’s a scowl on his face as he comes to stand before them with his arms crossed over his chest. “Tim was doing nothing other than pleading me for answers, now tell me what’s going on.”</p>
<p>It’s not very often that Bart gets mad or angry, his happy and light mood seems to be never ending but sometimes when that disappears the speedster could very well be intimidating when he needs to be.</p>
<p>Cassie shoves the bit of paper Tim had drew the symbol on in Bart’s face. The speedster takes it and studies it before he looks at them with wide eyes. “That isn’t good.” He states.</p>
<p>“Cassie thinks he’s a spy.” Kon tells him. Cassie glares at him but doesn’t protest against the comment.</p>
<p>His friend looks between them before shaking his head. “I don’t think so,” he denies, “Tim doesn’t seem the type. And after everything he told us about being taken, it just doesn’t seem right.”</p>
<p>“But they can act!” Cassie shouts throwing her arms up in the air. “That’s what they do! They act and manipulate. Spies and pirates alike.”</p>
<p>When they don’t respond to her Cassie sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. “I know that this is making me look like the bad guy and I really don’t want to be one, but we have to be realistic here. It’s a possibility that Tim could be here to spy on us.”</p>
<p>“Exactly,” Kon says firmly, “A possibility. It’s not certain, none of us know for sure so it could be anything.”</p>
<p>“Back along, when the leaders of Krypton warned us about there being a human around this part of the universe <em>this </em>may be why. If Tim is involved with them, then it’s nothing good. They must be planning something, especially if they need a <em>human</em> of all species.”</p>
<p>Kon frowns. “So what do you want to do? Just confront him about it, demand for answers. At the moment he’s weaker than usual and injured, he can’t do anything to us even if he wanted to.”</p>
<p>“If you’re that concerned Cassie, use your lasso on him.” Bart suggests looking at her. “From what we’ve seen so far he has no apparent knowledge of any of our species so he won’t know the powers of your lasso. Make him tell the truth.”</p>
<p>Cassie pauses and hums for a moment as if thinking about the idea. “It could work, but he could still just be acting and how do we know if he hasn’t been trained to resist its power?”</p>
<p>Kon agrees that it’s a good idea, he doesn’t think there’s any need to do it but it may prove a point to Cassie about Tim not being a spy. “It can’t hurt to try right? If he refuses then that brings up some suspicions, but we go from there before making any accusations.”</p>
<p>His crew look at him for a moment and eventually nod. He knows that Bart’s on his side when it comes to Tim, both of them seeming to have a soft spot for the human. Cassie seems sceptical of the whole thing and is weary of Tim, maybe she has the right to be because he and Bart particularly aren’t, but they still have to at least give Tim a chance.</p>
<p>After hearing his story of how he was taken, Kon feels sympathetic for him especially since he was taken from <em>that</em> group. He wants to get Tim home as soon as possible and hopefully stop whatever is about to come from this whole mess.</p>
<p>The leaders of Krypton had warned them of a human being out in the universe, maybe this is why. Something’s coming. Something big is about to happen and Kon has no idea what it is. A war perhaps? Cassie may be right in being suspicious of Tim, it could turn out that he was a spy after all, however until they know the truth they just can’t be sure.</p>
<p>He tunes back in on his crew when Bart’s talking about putting more healing cream on Tim’s back. It seems to be healing rather well apparently, maybe another day or two before the wounds disappear which was some good news. According to Bart, apparently Tim was making it difficult for him to put the cream on because he wouldn’t stay still and was trying to convince Bart to tell him what was going on.</p>
<p>Bart’s story was interrupted when the aforementioned human bursts through the door and storms into the cockpit. His expression is one of anger and his eyes were narrowed as he glares at them all. It’s confusing, moments ago he was crying, upset and saddened by his circumstances but now he’s angry and maybe full of hatred. Human emotions are confusing.</p>
<p>Kryptonian’s usually are a more relaxed species, they help others where they can and try to maintain peace where possible (though there’s a handful who certainly aren’t like that). Amazons are quick to anger but given their strong and violent nature it’s not surprising as they’re made to be warriors. Speedsters are usually very energetic, soft natured, easy going and it usually takes a lot to get them riled up unless it’s something they care deeply about (like someone they care for or a passion they believe in).</p>
<p>Humans though, they seem to switch from one emotion to the other in a matter of seconds.</p>
<p>“I want answers.” Tim demands staring at them. He crosses his arms over his chest defiantly and pins each of them with a look.</p>
<p>A tense silence fills the air as they all stare at one another, waiting for someone to make the first move. In the end it was Cassie, but not in the way Kon had been expected. She turns to him and Bart. “Get him into a chair, I’ll be back in a moment.” Then she leaves the cockpit with no further explanation.</p>
<p>Tim blinks in surprise as she barges past him and out the door. He soon turns to Bart and Kon, looking baffled. “What does she mean? What does that symbol mean? The way you guys are reacting to it is really making me feel uneasy.”</p>
<p>Kon sighs and runs a hand through his hair as Bart pulls a seat out from the table. The speedster grabs Tim’s arm and starts guiding him to the chair but Tim shakes him off.</p>
<p>“What’s going on? I’m not doing anything until you give some sort of explanation!”</p>
<p>“Look Tim,” Kon says getting his attention. He walks towards the human and starts guiding him backwards to the chair. “That symbol you drew isn’t anything good. The fact you were with them has raised some questions and some suspicions.”</p>
<p>Tim’s expression morphs into shock as Kon talks. He fights against the movements but Kon puts in a tiny amount of super-strength to force the human to sit down. Tim hisses as he lands but his eyes flicker between him and Bart.</p>
<p>“Suspicions? Look I don’t know what that symbol means! Remember, I couldn’t understand them when I was there, I didn’t know what they were saying. I’m telling the truth!”</p>
<p>Tim was becoming frantic now and Kon honestly felt bad for him. But he also knows that it’s best for all of them to know the truth and Cassie’s lasso will make Tim tell them nothing but the truth. Once they know where Tim stands, then they can plan their next steps.</p>
<p>Cassie comes back through the door then with her golden lasso in her hand. In the chair Tim fidgets more and sends them all glares.</p>
<p>“Look I swear, I’m telling the truth! This is stupid.”</p>
<p>Cassie stops beside him and crosses her arms. “If you’re so sure, then you’ll let me do this without any protests.”</p>
<p>Tim eyes her and then the lasso, looking unsure about it all. He must decide to not fight against it anymore because he slumps in the chair and stops moving, he shakes his head muttering underneath his breath. “This is stupid. After all of this time now you’re suddenly distrusting me.”</p>
<p>The Amazon says nothing as she moves and begins to wrap the lasso around Tim. She loops it over him a few times before stepping back and fisting the rest of it in her hands.</p>
<p>“Now tell me the truth Tim.” Cassie demands, tightening her hold on the lasso. “Do you know what that symbol is? Who it belongs to?” As the question leaves her mouth the lasso begins to glow, causing Tim’s eyes widen at the sight.</p>
<p>“What the-”</p>
<p>“Tim.”</p>
<p>Tim snaps his gaze towards Cassie, looking her dead in the eye. “No. I don’t know what that symbol means! All I know is that everyone who appeared to be active duty on the ship had that symbol on their clothing. I couldn’t understand them! Any time they spoke to me I didn’t know what they were saying. I could make a guess and say that it’s a symbol of their species or at least their group. They weren’t stationed on a planet, only on the ship.”</p>
<p>When Tim hisses in pain Kon shares a look with Bart who grimaces.</p>
<p>Cassie still doesn’t look satisfied. “Are you sent here to spy or manipulate us?”</p>
<p>Tim looks confused by the question but soon enough was telling them his answer. “What? No! Look I escaped from them and just want to go home. I don’t know why they took me or what they want to use me for but I’m innocent and just want to get back to Earth where I belong.”</p>
<p>It’s at that point that Kon decides he’s had enough. “There's your answers Cass. He’s not an enemy.”</p>
<p>She glares at him for a moment but doesn’t protest as she unravels Tim from the lasso.</p>
<p>Tim scowls at them all as he stands up from the chair. “I told you assholes that I wasn’t lying. I can’t believe you think I was some sort of spy or something. Now tell me what’s going on.”</p>
<p>“That symbol,” Kon starts, looking at him, “Is the symbol of a group called the League of Assassins. They’re a universal group known for assassinating leaders of a variety of planets and species, starting wars, destroying planets and even wiping out whole species’.”</p>
<p>Tim blinks at him before slowly nodding. Kon watches in interest as he starts walking the length of the cockpit in clear thought. “So you’re saying I was taken as a slave by a universal group who assassinate people.” At his nod Tim hums. “Lovely.”</p>
<p>“It doesn’t make sense why they would take you though. You’re a human, no offense but you’re not worth a lot, unless they use you to manipulate individuals. Using the knowledge that humans are weak and useless for their own gains.” Cassie comments.</p>
<p>“The one who commands the League is named The Demon’s Head.” Bart chips into the conversation. “From what you told us Tim, he’s the one you named The Master.”</p>
<p>Kon watches as Tim frowns and then shakes his head in what he thinks is disbelief. He feels bad for him, it is a lot to take in and understand.</p>
<p>Cassie shoves past him to get to the dashboard, once she’s there she starts messing around with it. “The fact that you got away is incredible Tim, <em>however</em> it means that he’s going to be looking for you and since you’re here that means The League is going to come after us.”</p>
<p>Tim stops his pacing and sends them a worried look.</p>
<p>“So sorry about my behaviour but you need to understand that The League is a group we don’t want to be involved with,” Cassie tells him firmly, turning around to face Tim. She leans against the dashboard and continues speaking, “Not too long ago we had a call from the leaders of Krypton asking us if we’ve heard anything about a human being in this part of the universe. Kon denied it, said we’ll keep an eye out just in case. They warned us then that having a human in this part of the universe meant nothing good. The League must be up to something and for whatever reason, they need a human of all things to do it, hence the suspicions.”</p>
<p>Tim stares at her for a long moment before turning away, his gaze soon falls to the floor. Kon has no idea on what he could be thinking, it could anything really. The League are certainly up to something if they went through all of the trouble to kidnap Tim from his own planet. What they need a human for is anyone’s guess but there has to be a reason though right?</p>
<p>Kon has an inkling to talk to the leaders, to see what their opinion on the situation is and to find out if they know anything about what The League could potentially be up to. On the other hand he feels like they should continue to keep Tim’s presence quiet because he has no idea how the leaders will actually take news that they’ve been hosting Tim on their ship for all of this time.</p>
<p>He takes a step forward and gets the attention of the crew. “Look, for now we keep going as we have been. We now know The League is most likely after Tim, so we can configure the right equipment to keep track of their movements which will notify us if they come into our range.</p>
<p>In the meantime, we have four more items we need to collect before we head back to Krypton, we grab those, drop them off and get Tim back to Earth as soon as possible.”</p>
<p>Tim starts shaking his head. “I appreciate that, I do, but wouldn’t it be easier to just dump me on a random planet and then you can go about your business like normal. You don’t need to get in trouble because of me. If I had known before I wouldn’t have bothered coming with you.”</p>
<p>Bart voices his protest before Kon could. He walks over to Tim and throws an arm around the human’s shoulders. “Absolutely not. Tim, you are sticking with us no matter what. We’ve come all this way without trouble so far.” Bart sends Kon and Cassie a grin. “Besides, we’re Young Justice, there’s nothing we can’t handle. We may not look like much but we’re a pretty good bunch when we need to be.”</p>
<p>Tim snorts softly but there’s a small smile on his face, Cassie is rolling her eyes while trying to hide the smile tugging at her lips, he and Bart share a knowing grin.</p>
<p>“What about after we get Tim back to Earth? There’s nothing stopping The League from going there and just simply taking him again. We can’t protect him all the time.” Cassie points out practically.</p>
<p>Kon thinks about it for a moment but his mind comes up blank. There is no physical way of stopping them from doing exactly that, he guesses they’d just have to hope they would leave Tim alone. Across the room, Bart perks up. “What if we gave him a cloaking device type of thing. Ask a magician or a sorcerer to conjure up a spell that would keep Tim hidden?”</p>
<p>“That could work.” Kon contemplates. “We’ll have to look into it, see if we can find anyone powerful enough and willing to do it. It’s an option at least.”</p>
<p>The cockpit falls into silence as the conversation dies. It’s a lot to take in and certainly a lot to learn about. Yet again Kon finds himself feeling bad for Tim, he couldn’t even begin to imagine the type of things the human had to endure while he had been trapped with them. Tim had mentioned he was used as an experiment before The Demon’s Head took special interest in him but that could only really mean worse things surely. Kon is tempted to ask Tim to elaborate on his time spent with The League but that’s probably crossing too many boundaries so he refrains from doing so.</p>
<p>A beeping sound cuts through the silence and they all look towards the dashboard where the sound came from. As she was still leaning against it, Cassie turns to find out what it was about. She looks over her shoulder before settling down into the pilots seat. “The co-ordinates for the next item on the list has been confirmed. I’m going to put us on route now, should take us around two days to get there.”</p>
<p>Kon nods in understanding and allows her to get on with it. He turns his attention to Bart and Tim who were quietly talking between themselves.</p>
<p>“Are you sure?”</p>
<p>Tim looks exasperated and a little annoyed as he huffs, “Yes, Bart I’m sure.”</p>
<p>Kon gets the feeling they were no longer talking about the symbol. “Sure about what?” He enquires nosily.</p>
<p>From where his arm was still around Tim’s shoulder’s, Bart gives Tim’s chest a pat with his hand and looks at Kon. “I’m pretty certain that Tim here needs some food. Can you remember the last time he ate something because I can’t.”</p>
<p>Kon thinks about it for a moment and shakes his head, “I’m not sure. Are you hungry Tim?”</p>
<p>“No!” Tim exclaims. “I’m not hungry! I’m fine.”</p>
<p>Bart hums, “I don’t think so. At least <em>I’m </em>hungry so come on, you can have something while I eat!”</p>
<p>Tim starts protesting but Bart ignores him and starts dragging him towards the exit. Kon doesn’t follow them straight away, he first casts a glance towards Cassie who was sat at the dashboard punching instructions into the machine. Deciding she’s busy Kon doesn’t offer her an invitation to join them, he turns back and heads towards the door to follow the other two down the corridor and towards the common room.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Tim wakes up, he spends a good amount of time simply staring at the ceiling of his room not doing anything. There’s a lot on his mind and it kind of makes him not want to leave the bed so he doesn’t have to deal with any of it.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t that just be easier? To simply avoid everything and pretend that there’s absolutely nothing wrong. Pretend that he was in his large open bedroom in the Manor instead of a supply closet on a spaceship. Pretend he was on Earth with his family and friends instead of floating through space with over-powered aliens. Pretend his enemies were the press instead of a whole league of killers potentially after him…</p>
<p>He shakes his head and lets out a moan. He can’t believe this is his life right now. What the hell is he going to tell his family once he gets back to Earth? Would they even believe him? That’ll be a bridge he’ll have to cross once he gets to it. For now he needs to decide on whether he wants to face the reality of his current situation or avoid it for as long as possible.</p>
<p>Unfortunately that decision is taken away from him as his room’s door opens up. Not even bothering to ask for permission, Kon walks into his room and stares at his sprawled out form on the bed.</p>
<p>Tim doesn’t bother getting up, he’s kind of gone the past the point of caring about impressions. Alternatively he curls up into a ball, wrapping the blanket tighter around him and shoots the alien a glare. “You know, we humans have a thing called knocking and waiting for permission before entering a room, also known as manners. Remind me to teach you about them at some point.”</p>
<p>Kon raises an eyebrow at him, Tim guesses that’s either because of his attitude or because of the subject. “Well hello to you too.” Kon says evenly. “You’ve been in here a while I thought I’d check on you but also invite you to join us while we train.”</p>
<p>“Train? Train for what?” Tim questions with a frown.</p>
<p>“Now we know that The League of Assassins may be after us, we thought it would be good to do more training to improve our fighting skills and strengthen our abilities. Would you like to join us?”</p>
<p>“I uh…” Tim blinks at him for a moment as he comprehends the question. Fighting? The only fighting he’s ever really done was dirty wrestling matches with his brothers and the self-defence classes he’s been through, however he admits he’s pretty good with a bo staff. On the other hand, he’s never actually been in like an actual <em>proper fight</em> before.</p>
<p>Plus there’s the fact of the fact these guys are <em>aliens</em>, he’s seen what they can do with their inhuman powers, what chance does he have?</p>
<p>Well, he’s always liked a challenge. “Sure, why not. It’ll be interesting.”</p>
<p>Smiling, Kon nods. “Great! When you’re ready just come on over.”</p>
<p>Kon’s manners are just as bad as they were when he first entered Tim’s room. The alien simply turns around and leaves, abruptly ending their conversation before Tim could question him further. He huffs in indignation. <em>Manners; is that so hard</em>?</p>
<p>At least these aliens are better than the ones he was imprisoned by, they didn’t even respect him like they do on this ship. Also another bonus of these guys and not the others (beside not being a prisoner) is that at least all three of them look <em>human</em>. On the other ship there were all kinds of creatures Tim had never even imagined seeing before. There were a couple human appearances but those people were simply assholes.</p>
<p>Somehow he finally finds the willpower to get up and out of bed. Once standing he does some light stretches to loosen his muscles before moving around his room to change into some clean clothing.</p>
<p>As he’s getting dressed he suddenly realises that his back hadn’t hurt at all, throughout all of that movement. Not once did it twinge in agitation or pain, he had actually forgotten about the wounds that had nearly ripped open his back.</p>
<p>If he had to guess he would say it’s been about three or four days since that incident happened. His internal clock is still haywire as he hasn’t yet worked out what time it would be. That cream the others have been putting on him has really done wonders if he’s already all healed up! Tim will get one of the others to check his back for him to make sure, but at least that part of his current life is over.</p>
<p>At this point, it’s all the little things.</p>
<p>Once changed, he exits his room and starts wandering down the corridor. Its only when he’s close to the common room that he realises he has no idea where they were training. He curses Kon for his abrupt leaving earlier and starts looking through every door he could.</p>
<p>On occasion he finds his mind getting distracted by the strange looking technology that fills up different rooms. He’s able to pull himself away before he gets too invested but makes a mental note to go back later on. He’s been on this ship for who knows how long and he still hasn’t explored everything yet!</p>
<p>Eventually he finds where the crew were gathered. Walking through the door, Tim stares at the room and takes it all in. On one side of the room there was some sort of simulator running. It takes up half of the room and currently has blue holographic bodies of all shapes and sizes running in different directions. There’s a blur of motion and suddenly the holographic bodies burst and disappear like sprinkles before reappearing elsewhere.</p>
<p>The second half of the room was split into three sections. One third had what resembled a variety of weights on a rack with different bench presses around it. The second third, the biggest of the three, simply had large mats placed on the floor. The final third had, from what Tim could see, a variety of weapons all stacked neatly in a large cabinet type of thing, it reminds him of something from a spy film when all the weapons get revealed from behind a closed door.</p>
<p>It was there on the second third that he sees Cassie and Kon. The two aliens were engaged in what looked like a hand to hand fight. He watches them with fascination as they kick, punch and dodge the other’s attacks. It looked like they were dancing, just a very fast and violent dance. Kon was brute force, putting all of his weight into his swings and kicks. Cassie, on the other hand, seems to be more agility based, dodging with speed and using a few different tricks to strike against Kon. With them two on the mats, that must make Bart the one in the simulator.</p>
<p>Tim stands there for a while watching the aliens spar with one another. It doesn’t even look like their tiring, which is insane, but eventually they spot Tim standing awkwardly at the doorway and soon stop to look his way.</p>
<p>“It’s about time. We thought you may have changed your mind.” Kon greets him with a smile.</p>
<p>Tim shrugs, “Nah, I’m not a chicken, I can handle a challenge.”</p>
<p>His comment gets him two identical confused looks, it’s then that Tim realises what he just said. Of course they wouldn’t understand the chicken reference, chances are that they don’t even know what a chicken is.</p>
<p>He sighs and waves a hand dismissing it, “Don’t worry, it’s an Earth saying. So, what’s the plan?” He glances around and sees Bart as a blur of motion on the other side of the room. He turns back to the others with a sudden thought, “How come I’ve never seen you guys train or even hear you mention it before?”</p>
<p>They both blink at him for a moment before catching up with his questions.</p>
<p>“We’re going to put you in the training simulator to see what you can do and go from there.” Cassie tells him pointedly.</p>
<p>Tim makes an ‘oh’ shape with his mouth but doesn’t comment. Her tone of voice was one to not argue against.</p>
<p>“As for why you haven’t seen us train is because we happen to train at random intervals. We often train individually or when we do train together I believe most of the time you happen to be sleeping.”</p>
<p>He guesses that explains their absences when he couldn’t find them sometimes. He never really even thought about them training or doing some sort of abilities practice.</p>
<p>Cassie studies him for a moment before turning to go over to the stacked weapons. “So what weapon would you like, we have a wide variety but whatever you feel comfortable with you’re welcome to use.”</p>
<p>Tim blinks before making his way over to her side and has a proper look at the weapons. There’s so much that stands out to him, plenty of things that he’s never seen before however his eyes drift to the plainest thing on the shelf and something he is familiar with. A bo staff.</p>
<p>Tim reaches out and picks it up, feeling the weight of it in his hands. It’s lighter than he expected it to be and wonders what it was made of, it looked like it was made from some kind of wood but there’s a high chance that he wouldn’t actually know the material used.</p>
<p>“This will do.” He declares looking at her.</p>
<p>Cassie gives him a funny look but doesn’t comment on it. She gestures to the other side of the room and makes her way there, Tim follows closely behind. Bart was now out of the simulator, having left it while Tim was choosing his weapon. The speedster was stood next to Kon and was speed talking away in the Kryptonian’s ear.</p>
<p>The two of them get to the other side of the room and Cassie stops, not knowing what else to do, Tim stands beside her. He watches with bewilderment as she brings up a holographic screen that materialises from out of nowhere and starts playing around with it.</p>
<p>Tim stares at it for a moment, not having any idea on what she was doing, before looking away and back at the staff in his hands. He twists it a couple times when a sudden though appears in his mind. “Hey what happened to that metal pole I had? The one I carried around when you first picked me up?”</p>
<p>Cassie shoots him a raised eyebrow before turning back to what she was doing. “Why does it matter? I have no idea.”</p>
<p>Tim shrugs, trying to think of the answer. He liked that pole, even got attached to it. “It, uh, doesn’t really… I was just wondering.”</p>
<p>“You dropped it when we got attacked by the Galavent. It got left behind and we didn’t think about it because we were trying to make sure you didn’t die!” Bart says blurring next to him.</p>
<p>Tim takes a moment to catch up with what happened and nods in understanding. So that’s what happened to the pole, shame, he liked that pole. It helped him find some kind of balance while he wrapped his head around everything that was happening with his life.</p>
<p>Cassie turns to him, crossing her arms over her chest. “Ready?”</p>
<p>Tim glances at her, at the simulator and back again. He swallows suddenly feeling nervous and jittery. “What do I have to do? Will it hurt me?”</p>
<p>“Different holographic shapes and figures will appear around you, all you have to do is fight them off and not get touched. If they do touch you, it may sting for a moment.”</p>
<p>Tim slowly nods in apprehension. Is it too late back out? He’s not sure if he wants to do this. A side-ways look shows him all the aliens are looking at him expectantly and he swallows thickly. He takes a deep breath to try and compose himself, as long as it doesn’t kill him right? <em>Right.</em></p>
<p>“Let’s go for it.” He tells Cassie after a moment.</p>
<p>She presses a button on the screen and gestures for him to enter the simulator. Tim honestly has no idea what he’s got himself into as he walks into the centre of the room, he just hopes he makes it out in one piece.</p>
<hr/>
<p>He’s pulled something. Tim’s pretty sure he’s pulled a muscle or something along those lines because he is <em>sore.</em></p>
<p>Overall he spent a good 5 hours in the training room with the aliens. It’s been about two hours since then, during that time he’s stretched, had some food and had a very pleasant shower. Now that he’s back in his room, collapsed on his bed, all he can feel is the achiness in his body and the bruising he’s received.</p>
<p>In reality, training hadn’t been as bad as what it could have been. Tim certainly isn’t skilled enough to keep up with the aliens and all of their super-human abilities but he held his ground for a little while. Once he had finished in the simulator, he had sparred with each of them separately, it gave him an insight on how their powers work and just simply fighting against different abilities.</p>
<p>That’s also where he picked up all the bruises, hopefully they won’t freak out too much when they next see him because its only after the shower that they’ve started to show on his skin now. A nice variety of ugly black and blue patches in different areas.</p>
<p>It’s easy to say that fighting the aliens is nothing like wrestling with his brothers.</p>
<p>He did manage to get the drop on both Kon and Cassie however, which was a delight considering who they are. He had surprised them both by doing a flip to dodge their attacks and striking out with one of his own. They had stared at him in disbelief for a good minute before asking what he did.</p>
<p>He showed them how he can perform a back flip as well as a front flip. They seemed to be absolutely flabbergast with it. At first they freaked out when he had jumped, all three of them seemed to be in the middle of rushing towards him by the time he landed safely on his feet. It took him doing the trick a few times for them to not feel so on edge with what he could do, especially since he had no powers to help him perform.</p>
<p>Tim laughed at their reactions and commented that they should see his brother. If they think Tim is fancy for doing a couple flips, then they should see what his acrobatic brother could do. He would love to see their faces after seeing the variety of ways Dick could bend, making it seem like he has no bones in his body.</p>
<p>It would certainly be interesting.</p>
<p>When he hears his room’s door open, Tim groans. He buries his face into a pillow and scowls. Hadn’t he just come into his room? What do they want now? He can’t be bothered to do anything else. Whoever it was stops by his bed but doesn’t move any more.</p>
<p>“Tim?” It was Bart. “Are you sleeping?”</p>
<p>In response Tim simply grunts into the pillow, not wanting to be disturbed. Bart doesn’t seem to get the message because Tim was suddenly being poked.</p>
<p>“Tim?”</p>
<p>He puts up with three more pokes before forcing himself up on his hands and sending Bart an unimpressed look. “What is it Bart?”</p>
<p>Bart smiles, clearly not seeing that Tim was annoyed with him. “We’re at the next planet we need to collect from. Cassie wanted me to come and get you.”</p>
<p>Sighing, Tim nods and starts getting up from the bed. “Okay sure, I’m coming.”</p>
<p>“Okay!”</p>
<p>When Tim blinks and reopens his eyes Bart was no longer there. He shakes his head and just lets it be, he still isn’t used to that superspeed thing. It’s becoming less surprising now but he still wasn’t entirely used to it.</p>
<p>With little energy Tim drags his feet across the floor until he’s out of his room and heads down the corridor towards the cockpit. He wonders what kind of item they’ll have to collect this time, hopefully it’ll be easier and a lot safer to collect than the others, especially after the most recent one.</p>
<p>He doesn’t really want another adventure like that thanks.</p>
<p>Walking into the cockpit he eyes Kon up at the dashboard, then Cassie and Bart sat at the table going over some papers. Tim strolls over to the table and collapses in an empty seat. “Please tell me this item is easier <em>and</em> safer to collect than the last.”</p>
<p>That gets him a laugh from Kon on the other side of the room, he spins around in his chair to face him. “This item is easy to collect, yes. Not all of us really have to even go, all we have to do is go to the supplier and exchange objects.”</p>
<p>Tim starts nodding in understanding before he stops and shoots Kon a look. “So was there any reason for Bart to come and get me or no? If only one of us needs to go then do I have to be here?” It was a bit blunt and harsh but he felt knackered after that workout session. It’s been a while since he’s done so much physical work and after being injured a couple times it’s kinda taken it out of him.</p>
<p>Kon blinks in surprise at the questions. “Uh, we thought you would have wanted to know what was going on that’s all. I apologise that we disturbed you?”</p>
<p>The alien sounds so unsure on what to make of the situation that Tim feels bad for putting him in this position to begin with. He goes to apologise but Cassie jumps in before he could.</p>
<p>“Actually Tim, you and I can go over some details about The League,” She tells him, “there’s information that you should probably know and I want details from your time with them. Bart and Kon can handle collecting the next item.”</p>
<p>Tim raises his eyebrows but doesn’t protest. Maybe finding out more about The League wouldn’t hurt, though he has no idea what information that Cassie thinks that he may know, because he doesn’t know anything at all. When he was there, he couldn’t understand any of them and was too busy freaking out about being in space.</p>
<p>Kon turns back to the dashboard and guides the ship until they touch down on the new planet. The Kryptonian and the Speedster say their farewells as they exit the cockpit therefore leaving him and Cassie alone.</p>
<p>Tim still gets mixed feelings from Cassie, one moment she seems to be okay with him then the next she’s acting kinda hostile towards him. He didn’t know what to make of her but he really doesn’t want to cause any trouble.</p>
<p>The two of them end up sitting at the table and Tim sits there feeling tense and awkward as he waits for Cassie to start the conversation. At the moment the Amazon is sorting through some papers into a couple piles in front of her, promptly ignoring him.</p>
<p>Tim twiddles his thumbs and tries his best to not fidget too much. It was beginning to get uncomfortable and he wanted nothing more than to simply go back to bed, fall asleep and pretend this never happened. However he doesn’t always get what he wants.</p>
<p>There were several minutes of tense silence until Cassie finally engages with him. Showing him a variety of different bits of paper she starts explaining the history of the League of Assassins. Tim does his best to keep up with everything she was saying, any questions he had she answered to the best of her ability. Once they had gone through the history Cassie moved onto asking him about his time with them. Tim did his best to explain what he saw and why he thinks he was there, it wasn’t very informative but it was something.</p>
<p>They were still talking about the League when Bart and Kon return to the ship sometime later. The two aliens enter the cockpit smiling and laughing with one another, Cassie and Tim stop conversing watch them as they walk over to the table and settle down next to them.</p>
<p>Cassie raises an eyebrow, “Well?”</p>
<p>Kon waves a dismissive hand. “Surprisingly no conflictions with the trade, so it was a simple swap which makes a nice change compared to previous items.”</p>
<p>“Yeah he was pretty crash.” Bart grins. “He even gave us extra for no charge!”</p>
<p>Cassie hums noncommittedly. “Our next item is on the next planet from this one, it shouldn’t take too long to get there.” She gets up and heads for the dashboard.</p>
<p>Kon soon follows her and takes his seat in the pilots chair, the two of them work together to get the ship in the air once again and to take off so they could get away from this planet.</p>
<p>“How are you feeling?” Tim turns to Bart who was watching him. Tim shrugs.</p>
<p>“I’m fine. Cassie and I were going through stuff about the League.”</p>
<p>“There’s a lot there.” Bart hums knowingly. “They’re real nasty, its sad that you got involved with them.”</p>
<p>He knows that Bart doesn’t mean anything by those words but Tim couldn’t help the slight anger that rises up in him at hearing it. “It wasn’t like I had a choice in the matter.” He says sharply. Tim crosses his arms over his chest and looks away, thankfully Bart doesn’t continue the conversation.</p>
<p>Tim uses his time to go over the notes he made when he and Cassie were talking about the League, the files she had seemed to be great, however he couldn’t read any of them so to solve that problem he wrote his own.</p>
<p>He moves one piece of paper which uncovers the one hiding underneath it. Tim pauses, staring at the new piece of paper in front of him. Taking up most of the page was an image of the master of the league, the Demon’s Head as Cassie had called him, Ra’s Al Ghul.</p>
<p>The image was, what Tim would describe as, a mug shot. He looked human, with his Caucasian skin, long face, two green eyes, brown hair with white parts above the ears and facial hair that sticks out at the chin.</p>
<p>Tim shivers at the sight of him. He really hopes he doesn’t see that man again, he doesn’t know what would happen if he does see him but what he does know is that it won’t be pleasant. All Tim wants to do is go home and forget this whole space trip ever happened. It’s <em>his</em> fault Tim was in space to begin with, he’s the one who kidnapped Tim for whatever reason in the first place.</p>
<p>That being said, would he go after Tim again when he returns to Earth? What’s stopping the Demon’s Head from coming after him a second time? Will Tim ever be safe again?</p>
<p>Shaking his head he clears those thoughts and quickly covers the paper so he didn’t have to look at that hideous face anymore. He can’t be thinking about that right now, there's more important things to be dealing with.</p>
<p>He glances up to see Bart staring at him with a slight frown on his face. Tim raises his eyebrows at him when they make eye contact as if to say, <em>‘mind your own business’</em>, whether Bart gets the message or not he’s not sure. Tim’s soon distracted from the speedster because the other two soon join them.</p>
<p>“We’re on route to the neighbouring planet where we need to collect the next item. It shouldn’t take too long to get there. While we’re there we can do some stocking and check things over of the ship.” Kon informs them as he glances at each of them in turn.</p>
<p>“Okay, now that’s sorted, can I go back to bed?” Tim asks, almost whiningly. “It’s been a long day and I’m tired.”</p>
<p>The three aliens look at him and he fights the scowl threatening to take over his face. He’s tired but he wants his own space as much as he wants to go to bed, so just going to his room knowing he wouldn’t be disturbed for so many hours will be more than enough.</p>
<p>“Actually Tim, I was going to suggest an entertainment session. We haven’t done anything fun like for a while.” Kon says.</p>
<p>Tim sighs and hangs his hang in resignation. Stupid aliens and their capability to go on without sleep. Opposite him Bart brightens up in his chair. “Yes! We haven’t done one of those in eons! Whatarewegoingtodo? Arewewatchingsomethingonthescreen? Howaboutplayingsomegames? Ohohohohwhataboutthecards?”</p>
<p>Tim rubs his hand across his forehead and doesn’t even bother in trying to keep up with what the Speedster was saying. Kon, on the other hand, has no problem interpreting what he was saying.</p>
<p>Kon shrugs, looking between Bart and him. “Well I was going to have it as an open discussion. Perhaps if Tim isn’t feeling okay we can do it another time.”</p>
<p>Well, now he just feels bad. Tim sits up straight in his chair and looks at Kon. “Don’t worry about me joining in. I wouldn’t be much fun anyway, go on without me.”</p>
<p>“What about we use the screen instead?” Cassie suggests. “Tim can still rest but we can do something together?”</p>
<p>Both Kon and Bart nod, seeming satisfied with the idea that they still get to hang out together and do something. Tim simply agrees to his fate, they want him to join in (which is appreciated) and he isn’t getting away from not doing so, perhaps he could fall asleep on the couch?</p>
<p>A little while later, Tim finds himself lying on one end of the couch with a pillow under his head and a blanket covering him. The others are all sprawled out along the couch beside him, everyone watching the screen in front of them.</p>
<p>Tim has no idea what they’re watching, there were a variety of blue and purple blobs with faces resembling something like DaVinci would paint on the screen, he figures this is perhaps some planet’s animation. He has no idea but he’s pretty sure he’s going to get nightmares from watching those things. They’re terrifying.</p>
<p>He must have actually drifted off to sleep in the end because the next thing he’s mildly aware of is someone picking him up off the sofa. He makes an unhappy whining sound because a sudden rush of cold air meets an uncovered part of his body, Tim attempts to curl into the warmth still there as much as he can.</p>
<p>Soon enough Tim’s being placed back down on something soft, he’s then covered with a blanket and is left in peace. Tim succumbs to sleep pretty quickly after that.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This story is still alive! I promise! I apologise for not updating sooner, it wasn't intentional that I leave this story for 3 months before updating it, so again I apologise. Hopefully the long chapter will make up for the wait! </p>
<p>That being said, just as a warning, there is a character being sick and a bit of violence at the end. </p>
<p>Please enjoy! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn’t surprising when they find Tim sleeping next to them on the seat. The human had his eyes closed, face buried into the blanket covering him and was letting out the occasional puff of air through his nose.</p>
<p>Kon observes that Tim looks different when he’s sleeping compared to when he’s awake. While sleeping his face and body were relaxed, any tension he’s feeling is non-existent and he looks at peace. When Tim’s awake Kon could see how the human holds himself tightly, like he’s expecting to be attacked or expecting something to happen to him even after all this time. It’s sad that the human only ever seems to be truly relaxed when he's sleeping.</p>
<p>Deciding that Tim obviously needs his rest, (again why do humans sleep so much?) he gets up and carefully picks Tim up. He uses his telekinesis to stabilise the body as he begins to carry him out of the room. Tim lets out a high pitched noise and much to Kon’s surprise the human seems to curl in towards him instead of trying to get away.</p>
<p>He takes Tim to his room and gently places him down on the bed, once he’s let go Kon covers him with the blanket, making sure it’s tucked in around him. The human sighs and relaxes again, as if satisfied with the new arrangements even in his sleep.</p>
<p>Happy that Tim hasn’t woken up and continues to sleep peacefully Kon leaves the human’s room and heads back to the common room where his crew were still watching the entertainment screen.</p>
<p>“Tim’s asleep.” Kon states as he settles into his original seat. The other two turn to him and nod at the obvious statement.</p>
<p>“There's a lot going on for him at the moment,” Bart says frowning with concern, “I can’t imagine what he went through being held captive at the hands of the Demon’s Head.”</p>
<p>“Nothing good that’s for sure.” Cassie comments. “I always heard stories while on Themyscira about how much of a monster the Demon’s Head is, they always warned us to stay clear of the League no matter what.”</p>
<p>Kon can relate to that. There were similar stories and warnings said on Krypton too, by the way Bart is nodding he’s had similar experiences on Keystone as well. Kon really rather not get involved with the League of Assassins if he can help it, Rao knows what punishment will be inflicted on Kon and his team if the leaders found out about Tim and his involvement with them.</p>
<p>He has to praise Tim however, even though the human has obviously been through a hard and tough time, he still in fact managed to escape the clutches of the League, something that isn’t heard of. A <em>human</em> had managed to escape the universal assassins. That isn’t going to go down well meaning Tim has a target on his back and knowing the League, they aren’t going to stop until they find him.</p>
<p>There’s something special about this human. Kon doesn’t know what it is, but perhaps he’s drawn to Tim in a similar way that the Demon’s Head was, however Kon’s intentions were to help Tim, not enslave him.</p>
<p>“Now we know about this, we can be alert and we can protect Tim to the best of our abilities.” Kon declares looking at his team. Admittedly he's grown attached to Tim, he doesn’t know why but since the very start all he's wanted to do is help the human. He’s protective over him, wanting to return him home after he was wrongfully kidnapped from Earth and forced into something awful that no species should ever have to endure.</p>
<p>Cassie shakes her head. “There is word out already about a human in this part of the galaxy, meaning species are going to be weary and suspicious no matter what. Whether we like it or not, it won’t be long until the League catches up to us, we’re lucky we haven’t encountered them yet.”</p>
<p>Kon sends her a hard glare. “What do you suggest then? We’ve already had this conversation and we know the League are coming. By the time they reach us, we could already be back on Krypton, safe and sound and somewhere where they won’t attack us.”</p>
<p>Cassie returns the look, not backing down. “And what do you think the leaders are going to do as soon as they find Tim? If The League wants Tim, the leaders won’t hesitate to hand him over to ensure no wars or conflict happen, they have no reason to protect a human. Not only that, what about us? We’re going to be punished, severely, after they find out what we’re doing.”</p>
<p>“It’s not like we can abandoned him Cassie.” Bart joins in the conversation, the Speedster looks between the two of them. “It’s not his fault they’re after him, we’re all he has until we can get him home. Of course having the League on our tail isn’t ideal, but I suggest we keep going, if something happens then it happens. We deal with the situation as and when we need to.”</p>
<p>Kon silently thanks the Speedster for his support. He understands Cassie’s concerns but Tim doesn’t deserve to be just abandoned on some planet and left alone to defend for himself. With his lack of knowledge on the universe, he wouldn’t survive more than a couple days on his own.</p>
<p>Cassie’s gaze darts between them, clearly thinking about the options there are. Both Bart and Kon are set on helping Tim out in this situation and will do everything to maintain his safety, even if that means risking their own. She knows she’s outnumbered.</p>
<p>Eventually she sighs in resignation. “Okay fine, I have gone along with it until now and will continue to do so, but know I still think whole situation is going to end badly for all of us. What do we do now?”</p>
<p>“Continue as normal,” Kon says, “we carry on collecting the items, which we have almost completed now anyway, and then proceed to Krypton. Once there we work on getting Tim home safely.”</p>
<p>“If the League make an appearance?”</p>
<p>“Then we deal with it.”</p>
<p>A heavy silence falls between them all as a new threat looms over their mission. Kon has to admit that he never expected as big as problems they are facing now after picking Tim up, however it wasn’t one he could change so he has to deal with the consequences of his actions.</p>
<p>“Exactly!” Bart suddenly exclaims. He jumps up to his feet and waves his arms in the air in a show that he's back to his usual energetic-self. “We do what we always do: roll with it, take each mission at a time. We’ve had problems before and have never let that stop us!”</p>
<p>Kon takes a breath and decides to change the topic. At this point they were just repeating the conversation. “Right, so Cassie, how long until we reach the next planet?”</p>
<hr/>
<p>Their next stop happens to be on one of the busier planets in this part of the galaxy. It’s one of those places where you stop as you’re passing through, whether that is a break from flying, whether your ship needs repairs, or your team needs to stock up on items. There are many different species are constantly coming and going from here and a good benefit to the planet is that there are many different markets full of a variety of items throughout the universe.</p>
<p>As he’s done many times before, Kon parks the ship down in an allotted area and shuts the ship down before turning to his team who were sat at the table behind him.</p>
<p>“We’re here for the seventh item we need to collect for the leaders.” He states walking over to them, he stands before them and leans against an unused chair, looking at them individually. “We’re now on the planet Athoes, known mostly for its trading business and markets in the galaxy. This will be a good opportunity to stock up on items we need on the ship too.”</p>
<p>Cassie and Bart nod in understanding while Tim blinks at him. At this point it wasn’t surprising any more, they had only woken the human up from his sleep just before landing, they’ve learnt that it takes some time before he’s functioning normally again after waking up.</p>
<p>“The item we need to collect is called Forin, this is a liquid substance that originates from the planet itself. Now I don’t know where we’ll find this, but it should be somewhere in the market.”</p>
<p>Cassie leans back in her chair looking thoughtful. “So we split up? Go in twos and try to find the Forin as well as getting stuff for the ship at the same time? We can meet back here sometime later to see what we’ve gathered, and go from there.”</p>
<p>Kon nods seeing no problems with that plan. “Tim, you can come with me.” He tells the human who is only beginning to look more alert now. In response Tim merely nods. Kon turns to his team mates, “Be careful, especially with everything that's going on, just be alert for anything.”</p>
<p>Cassie rolls eyes while Bart grins and nods, before becoming serious. “Take care of yourselves as well. If they are looking for us then we all need to be prepared.”</p>
<p>Kon nods, listening to his friend’s words. After that the four of them leave the cockpit and prepare to leave the ship for their next collection mission.</p>
<p>Exiting the ship they spilt off into pairs, Kon and Tim as one pair and Cassie and Bart as the other. Kon had wanted to keep an eye on Tim, especially after everything he learned about the human earlier, plus leaving him alone with Cassie didn’t feel right considering how wound up the Amazon is over the situation. No offense to Bart, but Kon couldn’t trust him to not leave Tim on his own. The Speedster would get too excited over something, zip away and accidently abandoned Tim as he does so.</p>
<p>He and Tim walk around in silence for a long time. The human seemed to have an aura around him which is telling Kon to back off. Tim’s face seemed to be set in a scowl and as they travelled through many of the markets on the planet, nothing seemed to interest him.</p>
<p>Kon shakes his head, human’s and their moods are very confusing. It didn’t help that Tim wasn’t talking, Kon had no idea on what he could say or do to try and make things better for Tim. He has no idea on what Tim went through during his time with the League, obviously nothing good, but Tim had been fine up until they told him about <em>who exactly</em> it was that he was kidnapped by.</p>
<p>Kon didn’t like this version of Tim. He wasn’t smiling, or grumbling to himself about ‘space is fucking weird’ or even taking an interest in their new surroundings.</p>
<p>Perhaps his mood switch was because of the information he now knows? The sleep he had earlier hadn’t helped for whatever reason, maybe Kon should try and get Tim to talk about it. Like that time he did about when he shared his story about when he was kidnapped from Earth. Bart had said talking is supposed to help after all.</p>
<p>He comes out of his thoughts and finds Tim a few steps behind him, Kon waits for the human to catch up before walking again, this time making sure to stay at the same pace as Tim. “Are you okay? How was your sleep?” He asks in the end, finally breaking the silence between them.</p>
<p>Tim sends him a dark look, one that immediately tells Kon he wasn’t alright. Tim’s tone was clipped and short when he snaps at Kon. “I’m fine.”</p>
<p>Kon frowns. “Are you sure, you seem off. Is there anything you want to talk about?”</p>
<p>“There is nothing to talk about, back off Kon.”</p>
<p>Kon knows that isn’t right. Nothing to talk about? Is Tim being oblivious to what’s going on, or does he not care? Or could he just be grouchy still because he hasn’t woken up yet?</p>
<p>“Well if you do want to talk, I’m happy to listen Tim.” Tim’s disbelieving snorts makes him huff. “What now?”</p>
<p>Tim lets out a low chuckle and shakes his head. “It’s funny that’s all. You know, while talking does help with things, it doesn’t solve anything or make the problems go away.” He looks at Kon, his eyes glinting a sharp blue as they observe him for a moment before turning away again. “What I’m going through is hard to describe, my mood changes constantly and being in a completely foreign environment isn’t helping.”</p>
<p>Kon looks away from the human and focuses on all the different species around them as travel through the market. He doesn’t know how to respond to that.</p>
<p>Tim sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do Kon, I appreciate everything you have done, I really do but sometimes it’s just…” he trails off with a wave of his hand.</p>
<p>Kon wants to comment about it, ask for further detail but the scowl on Tim’s face hasn’t disappeared so Kon refrains from asking. He has a feeling the situation will only worsen if he does ask. Humans are certainly a very confusing species.</p>
<p>They travel through the market and even explore another one in silence. Kon takes the lead while Tim follows him around, clearly not knowing what to do or what to look for. To his frustration Kon doesn’t find any Forin, he hopes Cassie and Bart are having more luck than he is.</p>
<p>More time goes by and it’s only a little bit before they have to head back to the ship to meet the others. By that point Kon still hadn’t had any luck collecting Forin but fortunately he’s been able to pick up different items for the ship which they need.</p>
<p>Tim’s mood hadn’t changed during that time either. He still hadn’t really spoken to Kon and still seemed disinterested in everything around them. Kon had been able to get him to smile at one point though. They had passed a stall which sold some familiar looking treats from Krypton. Unable to pass up the opportunity Kon brought some and excitedly offered them to Tim. They were little colourful squares mixed up of different flavours,</p>
<p>The human seemed cautious at first and after a smell he put one in his mouth. Moments later Kon beamed at the blissful expression that crossed over Tim’s face. The two of them shared the treats between them, only barely managing to save a couple for Bart and Cassie, before they continued searching the market.</p>
<p>On the journey back to the ship, Kon doesn’t stop looking at the variety of stall around the markets, he’s still keeping his eyes open for the Forin. One stall in particular makes him stop however, they didn’t have what he needed but these items looked intriguing. They were black bands of sorts, each having a different design and looked like they were made of a stiff material. If Kon had to guess these bands could be worn on a wrist or ankle.</p>
<p>Kon’s mildly aware of Tim hovering around next to him. The human is clearly waiting for Kon to be done with the stall so they could continue heading back to the ship.</p>
<p>He’s in the middle of a discussion with the stall’s owner to purchase one of the bands, when he suddenly feels rapid tapping on his shoulder. Kon glances over his shoulder to find Tim’s hand repeatedly hitting him while his focus is on the crowd in the market.</p>
<p>“Tim?” Kon says, turning to fully face the human.</p>
<p>Tim’s eyes instantly snap to him as he speaks and the tapping immediately ceases. The human levels him with a hard look. “Kon we need to go.”</p>
<p>Kon shoots him an odd look before turning away to face the owner again. “Yeah one moment Tim.” He definitely wants one of those bands, if Tim could just wait a few moment then they can continue back to the ship.</p>
<p>Tim lets out a huff. “No Kon. We need to go, like <em>right now.</em>”</p>
<p>Sighing Kon turns back to Tim to find him once again staring out into the crowds within the market. He takes a moment to observe the human, finding him more tense than usual (that’s pretty impressive considering what he’s been like all day). Kon picks up on the frantic edge that Tim’s voice has taken.</p>
<p>Something’s must be wrong. Tim’s still staring out into the distance so Kon follows his eyeline and freezes on the spot, now understanding the context to Tim’s words.</p>
<p>Through the crowds they spy a green-skinned being, maybe a Martian, adorning complete dark grey attire with a very distinguishable symbol imprinted into the sleeves of his tunic. Despite the uniform he’s wearing, it’s easy to pick him out from the crowd because everyone happened to be giving him a wide berth, no one daring to get too close.</p>
<p>Kon swallows. “Yeah it’s time to go.”</p>
<p>There was no mistaking that symbol.</p>
<p>Kon didn’t understand the grey attire, he had only ever seen them wear all black, but that symbol was more than enough to get him moving. Sending the stall owner a tight, apologetic smile, he straightens up and reaches out for Tim, grabbing him by the wrist. Without thinking about it he starts dragging Tim through the crowds in the opposite direction to the Martian. Perhaps they could loop around to get the ship? Any means to avoid being in sight and risk any contact what so ever. Though if there’s one then surely there’s more. Kon’s surprised they haven’t bumped into them yet.</p>
<p>Letting himself be guided through the market, Tim speaks up behind him. “On the ship, the workers all had different uniforms. Majority of them wore black and carried weapons, however on the occasion I would see different beings wearing different coloured uniforms. Sometimes dark grey, sometimes dark green, midnight blue and even a dark burgundy colour. I never found out what they meant though.”</p>
<p>Kon grits his teeth and continues dragging Tim through the crowds. “It’s not important. The fact is that they are here and there’s probably more of them scattered around. We need to leave this planet immediately before we get noticed.”</p>
<p>“What about Bart and Cassie?”</p>
<p>Kon could only shrug at the question, though his stomach feels heavy. He doesn’t like being separated from his team like this, when there’s an imminent threat and he has no way of contacting them. “They’ll be fine, hopefully they’ve found the Forin and haven’t yet been seen. We just need to hope they’re already back at the ship considering it’s time we all meet anyway.”</p>
<p>They continue travelling back through the market, slowly making their way back to the ship. They get a few disgusted looks thrown their way as they barge past different groups of beings, especially when Kon nearly knocks over a stall after having to quickly dodge right to avoid another League of Assassins member.</p>
<p>“Shit, Kon, we’re being followed.” Tim tells him breathlessly from his left.</p>
<p>Kon glances over his shoulder and sure enough there were two League members following them. Kon curses. They’ve been spotted now they have very little chance of escaping.</p>
<p>“Run,” he says without thinking about it, “run!”</p>
<p>Not waiting for a response Kon darts forward, no longer caring about being subtle or pushing past species or not knocking over stalls. The sooner they get to the ship the sooner they can get off the planet and make an escape from the League.</p>
<p>It’s only when the ship comes into sight that Kon slows down enough to focus on his surroundings once again. He’s expecting Tim to be by his side and his teammates beside the ship. Clearly he had expected to much because none of those things were what he saw.</p>
<p>His team weren’t in sight next to the ship and Tim wasn’t by his side. Upon seeing that his human companion wasn’t next to him he abruptly stops moving and frantically starts looking around. Tim wasn’t anywhere in sight.</p>
<p>“Kon! Kon-el!”</p>
<p>The scream gets his attention and he looks back the way he came. How far behind was Tim? Without hesitating Kon sprints back the way he came, retracing his steps should lead him back to Tim especially if the human keeps screaming his name.</p>
<p>Rao, he feels terrible! It’s only as he’s running back to help Tim that he remembers of course Tim wouldn’t be by his side, Kon has superspeed! Tim is human, he doesn’t have any special abilities and Kon just left him behind without second thought.</p>
<p>It only takes moments to find Tim. A large space in the middle of the market had been made from where others had either fled the scene or where they have moved to create an area for the fight happening at the centre of it.</p>
<p>Tim is there with two League members, fighting to break free of their holds on him. The members were clearly trying to pin the human down but Tim’s making it difficult with the way he’s frantically squirming in their hold.</p>
<p>Kon barges his way through what crowd has stayed behind to watch the scene and immediately joins the fight. He dives in and knocks one of the members off and away from Tim. As he hits the ground Kon jumps onto him and throws a ferocious punch to his head which lands with a sickening crunch.</p>
<p>When the body underneath him stops moving, either dead or unconscious (Kon wasn’t really thinking about it in that moment), he spins around and goes for the other one which has now climbed on top of Tim and had the human’s wrists held in his hands.</p>
<p>Kon tackles him off of Tim and they go rolling to the side. Fortunately Kon ends up on top and just as he had done with the other, he brings his fist down against his head rendering him unconscious. As soon as the body goes still Kon sweeps the area in search for Tim and finds the human climbing up to his feet.</p>
<p>“Tim! Are you okay?” Kon asks worriedly, rushing over to the human’s side and helps him to stand up.</p>
<p>Tim coughs and brushes dirt off his clothes and glances around at the two bodies. “I’m good thanks. They grabbed me from behind.”</p>
<p>Kon hums and quickly scans Tim, seeing if he is in fact fine. He’s grateful that he doesn’t find anything wrong with Tim. He reaches out to take Tim’s wrist again, planning on dragging him back to the ship and not let go until they got there. “Come on, before more appear.”</p>
<p>He doesn’t want to think about how easy it had been to take down those League members. Weren’t assassins supposed to be skilled and unbeatable? How had Kon easily knocked them unconscious with a punch? The element of surprise probably helped but there’s more to it than that.</p>
<p>There’s also the question of why they hadn’t been able to pin Tim down easily, especially considering his weaker species. Were they trying to avoid hurting him? Trying to restrain him with little injury as possible?</p>
<p>Kon shakes his head, he’ll have to work out the details later on. For now he grabs Tim’s wrist and turns to start making their way back to the ship when he’s immediately cut short. There in front of them were three more League members.</p>
<p>Kon turns the opposite way only to find two more standing behind them. Next to him Tim tenses and presses in close against Kon. “We’re surrounded.” No matter what direction they look in there’s a League member standing there staring right back at them.</p>
<p>“Kon, what do we do? There’s no way we can get past this many.”</p>
<p>Kon doesn’t respond to Tim’s statement. Tim’s right of course but he doesn’t want to admit it, the speckle of optimism that they’ll get out of this fine flickers inside of Kon but he doesn’t know if it’s enough this time round.</p>
<p>He looks at the variety of members surrounding them. They’re all different, all different species all with a variety of abilities, strengths and weaknesses. If Kon was to exploit one, he’d only open up the strength of another.</p>
<p>An idea comes to mind and Kon glances up. He huffs when he sees more figures above them, flying in the open air. So flying away isn’t an option. He had the idea of simply grabbing Tim and flying them out of there but with League members in the sky, it isn’t happening.</p>
<p>Eventually one of them steps forward, speaking to them in a short authoritative tone. “The human needs to come with us.”</p>
<p>“That’s not happening.” Kon immediately retorts back.</p>
<p>“If he refuses to come then we will have no choice but to use force.”</p>
<p><em>Well it’s a little late for that,</em> Kon thinks to himself. Next to him he hears Tim mumble to himself, “Like that’s stopped you before.”</p>
<p>Kon has no idea how it happened but within moments they’re battling one another. One moment they had been talking and then the next they’re engaged in combat. As he fights the members he tries to stick close to Tim but it’s difficult to keep an eye on the human as he tries to not die.</p>
<p>He knocks a couple members down before getting grabbed behind and slammed into the ground. Before he could grasp what’s going on hands wrap around his neck and begin to squeeze, he scrambles against the hold on his and just as he’s about to throw them off using his telekinesis a golden rope appears and wraps around the neck of his attacker.</p>
<p>His attacker is then abruptly thrown off him with a yell. Kon scrambles to his feet and looks up to find Cassie there, beating the guy into submission. Once he stills she turns to him. “We were wondering why you both were late, it’s a good thing we decided to try and find you both.”</p>
<p>A blast of air meets Kon and suddenly Bart is there standing next to him. “Well this meeting is a lot sooner than anticipated.” He blurs off again before Kon could reply.</p>
<p>The fight between them continues and Kon has a hard time locating Tim in the midst of it all. As he begins to worry about the human having already been taken away from them he hears a shout from his left and Kon glances over there just in time to see Tim flipped over a League member’s back to land hard on the ground.</p>
<p>Kon makes a move to go help Tim when suddenly Bart is there tackling the guy off Tim. Unfortunately it doesn’t go according to plan. Keeping a hand on Tim the member snaps his other arm out and grabs Bart by the head. The Speedster yelps in surprise however before he could do anything another League member tackles him from the side making them both crash to into the ground. Kon watches as they grapple for a moment but when it ends the League member is standing up and Bart lies unmoving on the ground.</p>
<p>From his position Kon couldn’t see what had been done to make the Speedster go unconscious. His heart pounds rapidly inside his chest as despair washes over him. “BART!”</p>
<p>A force hitting his side brings him back to his own situation and Kon quickly deals with the member currently fighting him. A few quick punches and the use of super strength the member collapses to the ground and doesn’t get up again.</p>
<p>Within that short time, the League have managed to get a hold of Tim and Kon stares as they begin to drag the human away. They have hold of Tim’s arms, locking them above his head as they drag him across the ground away from the main fight.</p>
<p>With Tim’s arms captured in a hold his only leverage is his legs and Kon watches as Tim digs his feet into the ground to try and cease their movements but his efforts were futile. He thrashes and squirms in their holds but they don’t let go.</p>
<p>It’s only when a shout from behind him gets him moving. “Go after him! I’ll handle these!”</p>
<p>Knowing and trusting Cassie to have his back Kon breaks forward, sprinting towards Tim and the figures dragging him away. Anything that attempts to stop him, Kon instantly strikes down, his mind now set on the mission of getting Tim back and free of those hands.</p>
<p>Unfortunately this single mindset would be his down fall.</p>
<p>With his focus purely on Tim, Kon failed to see the League member coming at him from the side. It’s when pain explodes from his torso that he realises his mistake. Kon takes a sharp breath in as his whole body lurches. Sudden vertigo washes over him and unable to get his balance Kon stumbles, collapsing on the ground moments later.</p>
<p>Curling up on his knees, he cries out as his side throbs, his whole vision blurs together, nausea stirs inside of him and everything becomes hazy. A muffled yell which he thinks is his name comes from somewhere in front of him but he’s not able to comprehend it. Everything hurts.</p>
<p>He eventually looks down, eyeing up his side where the pain is coming from, only to wish he hadn’t looked. At what he sees makes the nausea he had been feeling comes to the front full force and unable to prevent it, Kon vomits making a mess of the ground in front of him. Everything only becomes more painful as his body seizes, a series of spasms wrecking through his frame as everything inside of him comes out through his mouth.</p>
<p>When his body finally stops seizing he tries to take deep controlled breaths to get his thoughts together, however every breath he takes only causes his side to throb in pain. He prepares himself again and looks down to where a large piece of Kryptonite is embedded in his left side.</p>
<p>He takes in another sharp breath and lets it out. One of the only things that can harm him, that could kill him, and he’s been stabbed with it.</p>
<p>He could feel the effects it’s having on him thrumming through his body. He could feel that he’s already weaker, his senses are dulled down to almost numbness and his powers are basically non-existent now.</p>
<p>Forcing himself to look away from his wound, Kon looks back up and surveys his surroundings through blurry vision. He’s alone. There’s no one around meaning that Tim is no longer in sight and that means the League have taken him.</p>
<p>Kon lets out a yell, one that indicates both pain and anger. They’ve gotten Tim even after Kon told the human that the League wouldn’t get him. That Kon and his team would protect him. They failed in the worst way possible, Rao knows what they’ll do to him once Tim is back in the clutches if the Demon’s Head. They need to rescue him.</p>
<p>With that in mind Kon moves his attention back to his wound. He could still feel his body getting weaker and knows that it’s only a matter of time before his body gives out on him. He needs to get to the ship before that happens.</p>
<p>Gritting his teeth he wraps a hand around the piece of Kryptonite and in one motions rips it out of his side. Screaming in agony Kon throws the kryptonite away from him and clutches his side with a hand while taking long breaths in an attempt to stabilize himself.</p>
<p>Eventually he forces himself to get up to his feet which is an almost impossible feat. He staggers a few times but eventually gets himself standing upright. Now he needs to find his team and get to the ship.</p>
<p>Stumbling along, Kon heads back the way he originally came. He could feel himself swaying from side to side but he stays determined to find his friends. After what feels like eons, he finds Cassie sat on the floor hissing as he presses a hand to her shoulder. Bart’s body could be found to her left, the Speedster still apparently unconscious and unmoved.</p>
<p>It worries Kon. Cassie is injured too, meaning they found something that can only hurt an Amazon and if Bart is still not awake, they’ve obviously done something serious to him.</p>
<p>“Cassie…” The Amazon looks over at him, blood and dirt covering her face and clothes, her eyes widen at the sight of him.</p>
<p>“Kon?”</p>
<p>Kon staggers over to her and shakes his head in defeat. “They’ve got him, they got Tim,”</p>
<p>A flash of anger washes over Cassie, despite her attitude towards the human, this is something she wouldn’t have wished upon him. Still holding her wounded shoulder, she climbs to her feet and eyes Kon up worriedly. “We need to get back to the ship before we collapse. We’ll have to carry Bart between us.”</p>
<p>Somehow they manage to gather Bart’s unconscious body and carry it between them. The entire experience was tedious and painful, every step felt like torture and Kon wanted nothing more than to just give in to the darkness that’s threatening his vision.</p>
<p>They barely make it back to the ship. Kon fumbles to open the doors up and once inside he locks it before he and Cassie struggle with Bart’s body up the stairs and into the medical room. They deposit the Speedster onto the bed in the centre of the room before falling to the ground themselves, lacking the energy to stay on their feet for any longer.</p>
<p>“Call for… emergency…” Cassie speaks up brokenly. “Not another… option… Kon.”</p>
<p>Kon grunts and once again stumbles to his feet, having to use the walls for support. He makes his way out of the room and heads for the cockpit, having to lean against the wall to help keep himself upright the entire time.</p>
<p>When he gets there he stumbles over to the dashboard, promptly falling onto it once there. Using the last of his energy he slams his hand down on the emergency beacon. The alert will go to those on Krypton, letting them know of their location and the fact they need help. With that in mind Kon can’t fight against it anymore and lets the darkness take over.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s like the universe is really trying to test him at this point. He had been having a bad day to begin with, the short amount of sleep he had been able to get did nothing to help lighten his mood, then trailing behind Kon for a majority of the trip hadn’t been ideal. He’s still put off and uncomfortable about being in unknown territories and with the threat of the League of Assassins hanging over their heads did nothing to help ease his nerves.</p>
<p>Learning about who had held him hostage for who knows how long, had been both insightful and dreadful. He now has more knowledge of his kidnappers but learning who they were was awful. Universal assassins? What the fuck?</p>
<p>He doesn’t understand why assassins would want <em>him </em>of all people. Not only that, but a <em>human</em>? It doesn’t make sense. From the team’s reaction clearly this wasn’t a group anyone messed with, how he had managed to escape them remains a mystery.</p>
<p>If anything, learning who they were only adds to the millions of questions Tim’s already got. Previously he had been kidnapped and held as hostage, used as a slave, and now there’s an extremely high chance he’ll have to face them again. The main question is, however, in what context will he see them again?</p>
<p>The others, especially Bart and Kon, were determined that wouldn’t be the case. They would do everything they can to protect him from getting in the League’s hands once again. Tim appreciates the sentiment, he really does, but he can’t say he’s hopeful of this promise. While he would love to believe that he would stay safe, how nothing bad will happen, he’s seen enough movies and shows to know how this ends. They’ll encounter the League and nothing good will happen that’s for sure.</p>
<p>Tim does his best to not dwell on those facts and thoughts, it’s putting him in a bad mood and he knows the others could tell. Those pessimistic thoughts stay with him throughout the time he follows Kon through the markets, they make it hard for him to be interested in his surroundings and what they’re doing.</p>
<p>Thankfully Kon doesn’t bring it up. He knows the Kryptonian is concerned (he could see the worried looks Kon was constantly shooting his way). When Kon did eventually speak up, Tim shut him down quickly, not wanting to talk about his thoughts.</p>
<p>He had been broken out of his brooding when Kon offered him some strange candy. The alien had looked so excited for Tim to try some that Tim couldn’t deny him. He hesitantly took a colourful square piece and tried it, only to find it had in fact been really good. The two of them ended up eating the whole portion Kon had brought.</p>
<p>After that it went all downhill. Tim had spotted familiar clothing and alerted Kon of the League’s presence. The two of them quickly made their way back to the ship, darting between different stalls and changing directions to avoid bumping into any of the assassins around the market.</p>
<p>Tim soon realised they had been spotted after all and were being followed, this lead to Kon exclaiming they should run and he proceeded to sprint off at a speed Tim had no chance in keeping up with. Tim had cursed and followed the alien nonetheless.</p>
<p>At the end of the day he was only human, the assassins catching up to him had been inevitable. They had caught him from behind, using his t-shirt as leverage, and threw him down to the ground. Tim could only squirm and thrash against their holds as they tried to pin him down.</p>
<p>To his surprise they avoided hurting him in anyway, other than the bruising grip and rough manhandling, they made no moves to injure him. Tim filed those facts away for later because they weren’t exactly helping him in that moment.</p>
<p>That’s when Kon came back into the picture and freed him of their grasp but their freedom had been short lived because within seconds the two of them were surrounded by other assassins. Tim pressed close against Kon, dread and fear filling him from the inside. It wasn't a good situation to be in as they were vastly outnumbered and had little hope of escaping this.</p>
<p>Words were exchanged before the fighting began. Tim had no idea how or who started the fighting but in a blink of an eye it was happening. Using the little self-defence he knows Tim does his best to fight off the assassins, but being naturally weaker and unknowledgeable on how to defeat the many different species surrounding him, Tim was easily defeated and pinned down to the ground.</p>
<p>As he’s pinned Tim finds his attacker to be green-skinned and red eyed. He doesn’t get the chance to think about it too much because suddenly Bart was there also in the alien’s grasp. Tim feels his heart pound with fear as the Speedster is captured in the hold and he lets out a shout when he’s tackled down to the ground by a different member of the League.</p>
<p>From his pinned position on the ground, Tim loses sight of them. He doesn’t know what happened but hearing Kon cry out Bart’s name in panic wasn’t reassuring.</p>
<p>His thoughts were one again quickly derailed as the alien pinning him down moves off him, as he grabs one of Tim’s arms another member joins them and grabs his other arm. Between them they yank his limbs up and restrain him, moving him so they were dragging him across the floor as they walked. Tim fought against their hold, trying to use his feet to slow down their progress but his efforts were pointless, he wasn’t going to be able to stop them.</p>
<p>His attention is taken away from escaping when he finds Kon running towards him with a determined look on his face. He has no idea what the Kryptonian was planning but he couldn’t help that little bit of hope flicker inside of him as he sees his friend charging towards him and his capturers.</p>
<p>That hope immediately dies as Kon’s tackled from the side. From his position Tim sees it all so clearly and it seems like it happens in slow motion. The member charges at Kon from his left side, and as Kon’s focus was all on him he didn’t notice until it was too late.</p>
<p>Tim saw how the League member stabbed Kon with this bright green weapon of some kind, he saw how it pierced Kon’s skin and embedded into his side. He uselessly watched as Kon’s facial expression contorted with pain and as he lets out a scream in agony.</p>
<p>It’s when Kon collapses to his knees that Tim cries out his name, he thrashes in the restraining hold to try and get to his friend but the League members hold onto him tightly. It’s only minutes then that they turn a corner and Kon disappears from his sight.</p>
<p>As if hurting Tim wasn't enough in this life, Kon and Bart were hurt (possibly dead) now because of him.</p>
<p>Frustrated tears escape from his eyes as he’s continued to be dragged away from the fight scene. This wasn’t supposed to happen. His bad day had somehow turned even worse. He's now back in the hands of the enemy.</p>
<p>Tim’s too weak to fight the hold on him and he allows them to drag him off to wherever they’re going, he was to emotionally compromised as well. His thoughts and feelings all over the place, too scattered for him to even think straight let alone coming up with an escape plan.</p>
<p>Sometime later they come to a stop and Tim cranes his head to try and work out what’s going on. By this point they’ve moved far away from the market and into what looks like an unpopulated area of the planet.</p>
<p>When Tim glances over his shoulder he finds the members gathering at the base of a ramp which leads up to a small black spaceship and dread washes over him to what that could possibly mean. His attention quickly moves onto the League members as they begin to discuss plans.</p>
<p>“You’ve got it then?” One of them asks.</p>
<p>The hands holding his arms tighten their grip. “Yes. As suspected it was with others, a Kryptonian, an Amazon and a Speedster.”</p>
<p>“What of them?” The first voice demands.</p>
<p>“They’ll be dead soon if they’re not already. The poison worked effectively on the Speedster, the Amazon was wounded with the poisoned dagger and the Kryptonian was struck deeply with the kryptonite, he won’t survive very long.”</p>
<p>Tim grits his teeth and restrains himself from saying anything. By their words Tim feels devastated and horrified, his friends were probably dead after all. Forcing them to have slow deaths may be the reason why the League members didn’t outright kill them.</p>
<p>“The human?”</p>
<p>The hands restraining him move and Tim’s forced up onto his feet, spun around so he’s facing the ship and other League members. A shove against the shoulder forces him a couple steps forward. Tim glares hard at the different aliens in front of him, it takes all of Tim’s will power to stop himself from lashing out at them now that he was free of any restraining holds. Rationally he knows he’ll lose the fight within seconds so there’s no point in even entertaining the idea, despite how much he wants to.</p>
<p>The League member directly in front of him, a pink skinned man wearing the dark grey uniform, gives him a once over. When he speaks up Tim realises he’s the owner of the first voice he heard. “The Demon’s Head will be happy, well done.”</p>
<p>Tim tenses at the mention of the Demon’s Head, the very being Tim really doesn’t want to confront. If he thought the first time with them was bad, he knows this second time will be a whole lot worse. Tim’s dreading it.</p>
<p>Another member steps forward, gaining their attention. “We are wasting time are we not? Let’s deliver the slave and get our reward.”</p>
<p>Tim takes a long and controlled breath at hearing those words. <em>Slave</em>. The idea itself makes him want to be sick. Somehow Tim keeps himself silent even as he’s shoved forwards towards the ship in the silent demand of ‘walk’. He knows he can’t escape, he wouldn’t even make it a couple feet before he’s taken out. He knows they’ve not injured him on purpose but how long would that last?</p>
<p>He follows a group of League members onto the ship, walking up a ramp and into the vehicle. Once inside another shove makes him continue walking forwards, down a narrow corridor where a set of stairs are based at the opposite end.</p>
<p>As he travels Tim tries to get a look around at the ship he’s now in. It’s nothing like Young Justice’s ship. This is compacted, disgusting, dirty and old, it’s not the clean, modern and organised environment he’s grown used to.</p>
<p>Walking forwards, Tim notices a door at the top of the stairs, he figures that's where they’re heading but to his surprise just as they get to the staircase he’s forced to stop. Frowning Tim looks around in an attempt to work out what’s going on only to find a hand reaching around him and unlocking a door next to him on the left side.</p>
<p>A heavy metal door is then swung open and before Tim could comprehend what’s going on, he’s pushed into the room and Tim barely manages to catch himself from falling over as the suddenness of the action catches him off guard. Just as he rights himself a loud slam could be heard followed by multiple locks being bolted.</p>
<p>For a moment Tim does nothing as he stands there staring at the now closed door in disbelief. Right, of course. What else were they going to do with him? He was a prisoner and what do kidnappers do with prisoner’s? They lock them up. Tim really should have expected this, it’s not even like this is the first time its happened! It’s pretty universal at this point.</p>
<p>Shaking his head and letting out a sigh Tim turns his attention to his surroundings, not that there was a lot to look at. For the first time since entering he realises that he's in complete darkness, there was no light whatever.</p>
<p>A sense of panic explodes inside of Tim at this fact. What if there’s something else in here with him? If there’s something hiding that’s waiting to attack him? Tim couldn’t even see his hand let alone something that may try to kill him.</p>
<p>In attempts to stop the oncoming panic attack, he closes his eyes, takes long deep breaths before letting them out slowly and repeats until he finds himself calming down. It takes a while because every time he opens his eyes up and finds the same darkness encasing him it nearly triggers the panic attack all over again.</p>
<p>He doesn’t know how long it takes but eventually he adjusts and could stand being in the room in complete darkness without feeling overwhelmed. After that he moves around the room gingerly, feeling the place out with cautious touches. Eventually he deducts that he's in a small square room with absolutely no furniture in it and just plain walls.</p>
<p>Figuring that he isn't leaving anytime soon, Tim finds one of the corners in the room and settles down on the solid, cold floor. He wouldn’t be able to escape so just waiting this out seems to be the only option.</p>
<p>Tim could guess that the League will keep him in here until they reach their destination of where the Demon’s Head is so they could just hand him over and be done with it.</p>
<p>His thoughts soon move onto his friends and his concern for them only grows. How will he know if they’re alive or not? By the way the League members were speaking earlier, they’ve all been poisoned and stabbed, with what Tim knows is that they don’t get injured often and when they do it’s usually fatal. Tim hates the idea that they’re hurt because of him, or even worse <em>killed</em> because of him.</p>
<p>He prays to god that they’ll be alright.</p>
<p>Time passes in a blur, or rather in darkness. His ass has long gone numb and his limbs have gone all stiff but he refuses to move from his spot in the corner of the cell. Tim has no way of tracking the time but he wants to guess about an hour or two has passed by, he’s pretty sure he dozed off at some point too so that would extend the time by some lengths.</p>
<p>It’s so silent in the cell he’s trapped in; it’s quiet to the point where he could hear a pin drop. This is why his attention is instantly drawn to the direction of the door when he hears distant thumping sounds, they sound like footsteps coming towards his cell. He rejogs his memory and remembers that the cell is beside some steps, Tim wonders if the sounds he’s hearing are of someone walking down the stairs.</p>
<p>As they increase in volume Tim finally stands up and moves away from the corner. He has to use the wall for balance as he stretches out his stiff limbs until he’s upright again. When the thumping sound arrives right outside the cell’s door, his heart begins to pound inside of his chest as trepidation builds up. When the sounds eventually stop Tim braces himself for whatever he's about to face. Have they finally arrived at their destination? Have they simply decided to kill him instead?</p>
<p>Tim figures he’s about to find out because bolts are being unlocked and the door’s finally opening. To his discomfort, Tim has to cover his face up to stop being blinded from the light that suddenly streams into the cell as the door is opened. He hears footstep coming towards him and only has the opportunity to lift his head up and squint before he’s being roughly grabbed by the arms and pulled forward.</p>
<p>Tim stumbles along, trying his best to multitask as he blinks his eyes to adjust to the light and to stay upright on his feet as he’s marched to who knows where. As his vision continues to adjust Tim’s aware that he’s being lead out of the ship and down the ramp into another unknown territory.</p>
<p>By the time he’s seeing clear once again, Tim’s being forced to kneel down from a kick at the back of his legs. He lets out a sharp breath when his knees hit the hard ground but doesn’t say anything. From his low position he looks up and around at his surroundings for the first time.</p>
<p>He's surprised to find he’s in some kind of spaceship docking bay. Behind him was the ship he arrived in, parked up with the back facing him and League members coming and going from the vehicle. In front of him is a wide and long walkway where on both sides are rows of multiple similar black spaceships, all parked up and have beings coming and going from them. The place has high ceilings but no windows anywhere, it makes Tim wonder how the ships arrive and depart.</p>
<p>His attention is drawn away when the League members surrounding him suddenly all stand upright in a soldiers position. Tim glances around in confusion until he sees what’s approaching them. Tim’s stomach drops and he feels sick at the sight.</p>
<p>Walking towards him from down the walkway was <em>him</em>. The Demon’s Head. The one that has caused Tim’s life to be turned upside down and inside out, the being that has destroyed his life and probably has killed those who tried to help him.</p>
<p>Ra’s Al Ghul saunters towards him. He's wearing long green robes which were lined with a fine golden pattern, a black suit over an off white buttoned shirt. He’s also holding a long scimitar sword in his bony fingers.</p>
<p>Tim holds his breath as he gets closer, he could feel his nerves and panic stirring inside of him, threatening to break free as Tim does his best to hold his resolve. Seeing him however, Tim realises that they must now be back on the main mother ship, the same place Tim spent his time when he was first taken from Earth and the ship he miraculously escaped from.</p>
<p>When Ra’s reaches their group, only stopping a couple feet away, Tim looks down at the ground, refusing to look up. He’s stuck between simply not wanting to and being terrified to see him once again.</p>
<p>“Look at me.” A cold voice calls out.</p>
<p>Tim couldn’t help the flinch that happens at the unexpected demand but he doesn’t obey the order, stubbornly refusing to do so.</p>
<p>“Now is that any way to treat your master?” The voice says again, causing Tim to grit his teeth. Ra’s must have quickly grown tired of his refusal because the next thing Tim knows is that his jaw is being gripped in a painful hold and his head is yanked up so he's looking up at the Demon’s Head.</p>
<p>Cold, unforgiving eyes stare into his own. They rake over Tim’s face and glance down at his body, clearly studying him, looking for something. Tim stops himself from shuddering at the attention, instead choosing to stare off to the side so he doesn’t have to meet the ruthless look.</p>
<p>Ra’s lets him go after a moment and steps away from him.</p>
<p>“Sir, what do you plan on doing to the human now you have it?” An unknown voice speaks up from somewhere on Tim’s right. Of course Tim had been wondering that himself but he’s shocked to find one of the members voicing the question. Surprised to find that they have the guts to question his boss.</p>
<p>Ra’s turns slowly, regarding the assassin who questioned him. “Bold of you to speak up, and I have to say that it is none of your concern. However, if you must know, I plan on making him pay,” Ra’s turns his attention to Tim, staring him down almost like he’s prey that’s about to be hunted and caught, “he has embarrassed the empire enough and must suffer the consequences of his actions. Did you know that human’s make the most interesting of sounds when they’re forced to their limitations.”</p>
<p>Tim swallows thickly at the sound of that. He doesn’t know what exactly Ra’s is implying but he could take an educated guess. This time with the League is going to be so much worse than the last time and that in itself was a truly awful experience. Tim finds himself feeling terrified of the near future.</p>
<p>“Why not exterminate it right away? Humans are useless and lesser beings. Why waste your time on this one?”</p>
<p>Heavy silence and thick tension immediately fills the atmosphere after the words come out of the League member’s mouth, the same one who had spoken up earlier. Knowing exactly what’s about to happen, Tim squeezes his eyes shut just in time to hear the swish of a sword and a thick embedding sound as it enters a body.</p>
<p>Tim sharply inhales at the sound and tries to remain calm despite what’s going on around him. His heart is still pounding inside his chest and he could hear it’s beat inside of his ears as his internal panic goes critical. He clenches his hands into fists from where they rest at his sides to stop them from shaking and ignores the sweat he could feel coating his forehead.</p>
<p>He’s going to die. This is it. This surely is it.</p>
<p>His eyes automatically snap open when he hears a loud thud to his right. Tim glances down to find the League member now lying motionless on the ground and dark green liquid pooling around his body. Tim thanks god that the head is turned away from his sight, Tim might have actually passed out if he had to see the now-dead guy’s face.</p>
<p>“I will say this once and once only. You will pass this message among our empire. This human is <em>not to be touched</em>.” Ra’s speaks up, drawing his attention away from the dead body next to him.</p>
<p>Tim looks up fearfully as he sees the Demon’s Head pacing meaningfully in front of the group that has gathered. The way he talks sends chills through Tim’s body, it sounds so <em>possessive</em>.</p>
<p>“If this human is touched out of my command, then they will executed on sight. This human is special, something I will figure out and why. For now he will be punished for his actions in in the most excruciating way possible as I draw out those interesting sounds I mentioned earlier. Do I make myself clear?”</p>
<p>Tim is frozen in place as he absorbs Ra’s words. He’s so lost in his thoughts that he doesn’t hear the League members declare their understanding of the situation. When he comes back to reality, he finds Ra’s staring at him and Tim flinches when they make eye-contact, unable to help his natural fear response.</p>
<p>Ra’s smiles viciously as they stare at one another, clearly enjoying the reaction he's drawing out of Tim. “I am going to enjoy seeing what your limitations are human. I need a refresher from our previous time together as time has passed since then.”</p>
<p>This time when Tim unintentionally flinches he notices that Ra’s expression changes, it goes from predatory to curiosity. If Tim hadn’t been on edge before, he certainly is now. He tenses up as Ra’s strides forwards towards him, only stopping meters away.</p>
<p>“You seem rather aware of what’s going on this time human…” Ra’s trails off suggestively. Tim couldn’t help but frown, not understanding what he was hinting at. His expression must have given something away because the Demon’s Head suddenly looks surprised and gleeful.</p>
<p>Without warning Tim’s jaw is once again gripped in that bony hand. He tries to jerk out of the hold but the hand remains on him like a clamp. Tim hisses when he feels fingers digging into his cheeks, hitting the pressure points on his face to force his jaw to open.</p>
<p>Tim fights the hold but is held still as Ra’s holds his jaw open, his head is tilted up so the inside of his mouth could been seen. It’s only when a low laugh comes from Ra’s that Tim finally realises what this is about.</p>
<p>The universal translator.</p>
<p>Why didn’t Tim realise it before! He can now understand Ra’s, this entire time he’s been able to follow the conversation without any problems whereas before it was just a load of gibberish he couldn’t understand.</p>
<p>After confirming his suspicions he lets Tim go and steps away, that gleeful expression now back on his face. “Now where did you find that human? Did that little team of yours help you out with it? What did you do to get that implanted?”</p>
<p>For the first time since being in his presence Tim speaks up, snarling at him. “Go to hell.”</p>
<p>Tim’s response only causes Ra’s to grin menacingly. “I have to admit, this has just gotten a lot more interesting, we’re going to have such a pleasant time together.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone reading this story. It's incredible to know how many people are interested in it and how many are enjoying it, it's really uplifting to know. All the kudos and comments are greatly appreciated so thank you so much!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There's an overwhelming sensation of agonising pain and cold numbness throughout his body. It’s so strange that he wouldn’t be able to describe the feeling even if he tried. One thing he can determine however, is how his mind seems to be in some sort of haze, making everything seem unclear as he comes back to consciousness.</p>
<p>He’s aware of when he wakes up, he feels his breathing deepen and his body twitch when he tries to move. He barely gets his hand off the bed before pain is traveling up his arm and through his side. He groans and drops the limb back down where eventually the pain tampers off leaving his limb almost numb like. He soon finds out that his other body parts are all in similar states.</p>
<p>The process of waking up is strange. It’s not something that Kon does very often and when he does its usually because of dire situations. For him to be feeling this weak, something serious had to have happened.</p>
<p>In that moment he couldn’t recall what happened, his mind is in a haze which is making it difficult to think about anything in particular. Perhaps he should find out where he is first and then work out what happened? Right, that seems logical enough.</p>
<p>He’s not sure how much time passes by but eventually he’s able to crack his eyes open and blink away the blurriness that clouded his vision. When it finally clears he finds himself looking up at a plain ceiling which tells him nothing about his location. In slow and controlled movements, just so he doesn’t strain his body too much, he lifts his head up and cranes his neck around so he could observe his surroundings. As soon as he turns his head he knows where he is.</p>
<p>He’s in the infirmary of the training operations centre on Krypton.</p>
<p>Kon lets out a groan, his mind thinking about what the implications of what that could mean. From his glance around the room, he finds he's the only current occupant there and how no other workers were nearby. Directly to his left were various machines which all had a wide variety of data blinking on them, they were all attached to the medical cot he’s currently lying on.</p>
<p>That leads his gaze to look down his body. He sucks in a sharp breath when he sees the stark white bandages stretched across his torso, heavily padded on his side in particular. At least that explains the sharp pull he felt earlier.</p>
<p>It’s the physical pain that triggers off his memories to what had happened for him to land badly wounded in the infirmary on Krypton. The League of Assassins. Tim. The fight. Bart. Getting stabbed. Kryptonite. Hitting the emergency beacon.</p>
<p>It also explains why he feels awful, getting struck by kryptonite is never pleasant. It’s practically poisonous to his kind and could kill them if it enters their systems and isn’t immediately treated. Kon wonders how he’s alive.</p>
<p>Gritting his teeth, Kon braces himself and sits up on the bed, it takes humongous effort just to get sat up right and even more to get himself into a position where he’s leaning back against the headboard. By the time he’s settled he’s breathing heavily and feels like he’s about to pass out. The sudden nausea doesn’t help either.</p>
<p>“Kon-el!”</p>
<p>Kon opens his eyes up, unsure of when he closed them, at the loud exclamation of his name and watches as a figure rushes towards him from the infirmary’s entrance. Before he could recognise who it is, slender arms were encasing his shoulders and pulling him for an embrace, Kon’s just about able to lift one arm to wrap it around the figure.</p>
<p>They pull away and he finally sees who it is. Despite the circumstances, a small grin stretches across his lips at the sight of her. “Hey Kara, long time no see.”</p>
<p>She smiles in returns before she’s scowling and punching his shoulder in retaliation. “You idiot! You almost died! What were you thinking about going up against the League of Assassins? Getting stabbed by kryptonite? Rao Kon, you have no idea how frustrated I am with you!”</p>
<p>Kon pouts and rubs his shoulder but doesn’t stop her from ranting. He watches as she starts pacing the length of the bed, waving her arms around in dramatic gestures and as her long blonde hair flicks from side to side with the movements. They were family, cousins, this was her way of fretting over him.</p>
<p>After a moment he looks at her apologetically. “I apologise for worrying you Kara, you know that was never my intention, especially getting stabbed by kryptonite.”</p>
<p>“I know Kon,” she sighs defeatedly. She stops her pacing and slumps down on the bed next to his hip facing him. “It seemed like you weren’t going to make it. I was worried. Even Kal was concerned.”</p>
<p>Kon raises his eyebrows at hearing that, surprised at the news. Kal was one of the top leaders of Krypton, not the top but certainly the most respected, and often gave Kon the cold shoulder when they crossed paths. The only time they really communicate is through work when Kon does a check-in report.</p>
<p>He’s supposed to be Kon’s father too.</p>
<p>“Where is he now?” Kon questions his cousin.</p>
<p>She waves a dismissive hand. “Off doing his duties, you know what he’s like. He’ll be happy to hear you’re awake though.”</p>
<p>Kon nods before stopping himself, catching onto an earlier part of their conversation. “How did you know it was the League who stabbed me? Speaking of which, where’s my team? Are they okay? What happened, I remember collapsing after calling the beacon but that’s it.”</p>
<p>Kara hesitates before answering him. Kon could visibly see the internal debate she was having with herself on whether she should share the information or not. Her hesitation only aggravates him, obviously <em>something</em> bad has happened or else she wouldn’t be reluctant to tell him.</p>
<p>“Kara.”</p>
<p>His cousin sighs and looks at him guiltily before the expression changes into something more sombre. “Your crew are alive Kon. Cassandra was the first to wake and is making a full recovery, our staff were able to flush the poison out of her system and heal the wound. It’ll take a few days before she’s back to normal.”</p>
<p>Kon nods listening intently. He’s glad Cassie is recovering, it seems like she was the most fortunate out of the three of them, getting away from the League the least scathed. He looks expectantly at Kara for her to continue with news on Bart’s wellbeing.</p>
<p>“Bartholomew, isn’t as fortunate I’m afraid.” She tells him carefully, almost calculatingly, being weary of how Kon will react to the news. “He has yet to wake up. They’re having trouble analysing what’s in his system so they can work on an antidote and treat it. For now he’s alive but his metabolism has rapidly decreased and his accelerated healing factor seems to be almost non-existent. As far as I am aware they have contacted those on Keystone and have promised to keep them informed. If Bartholomew’s condition doesn’t improve they’re talking about transporting him back to Keystone.”</p>
<p>Kon merely nods after hearing that. He moves his gaze away from his cousin and stares at the blank wall in front of his bed. Guilt, fear, anger and sadness stir inside of him at the thought of Bart not waking up.</p>
<p>Normally he’s good at detaching from his emotions but when it’s those who are affected that he’s closet too, Kon struggles to do so. Poor energetic Bart, lying somewhere cold and now unmoving.</p>
<p>Kara reaches out and gently places a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze as she does so. “Members from Keystone are on their way here to see if they can help first, of course they have more insight of a Speedster’s body than us Kryptonian’s do. At the moment our teams doing everything they can to keep him breathing.”</p>
<p>Kon doesn’t think much more of it, he gently pushes her hand off of him and makes a move to get off the bed he’s on. “Where is he? I need to see him.”</p>
<p>Hands are instantly pushing back down against the bed. Kon submits under the pressure, finding himself too weak to fight back and the dizziness from earlier returning at full force. It takes a moment before it passes and he squints at Kara, silently demanding for an explanation.</p>
<p>The blonde Kryptonian glares back, crossing her arms over her chest in a show of annoyance. “You’re not going anywhere yet Kon-el. You are not nearly recovered enough to do so. You had severe Kryptonite poisoning, you’re lucky it didn’t kill you. It’s going to be several days before you’re back to normal then even longer before you have all your abilities back.”</p>
<p>Kon huffs and thumps his head against the cushion underneath his head. He doesn’t want to admit it but he knows she’s right.</p>
<p>Kara settles back down at his hip. “To answer your other question, once Cassandra woke up, I spoke to her and kept her company. She explained everything that happened and what’s been going on with your team recently. Of all the beings in the universe Kon, it happens to be <em>you</em> who stumbles across a human being from Earth! Mind explaining that one?”</p>
<p>Kon shakes his head in disbelief, a ghost of a smirk crossing his lips at the coincidence of it all. “I don’t know. We were doing our job and there was this human who was lost, confused, scared and I knew I had to help him. In my defence I didn’t know he was human to begin with.”</p>
<p>Kara raises an eyebrow and smiles. “That so? And as if helping the human wasn’t enough, you manage to get yourself mixed up with the League of Assassins at the same time! What were you thinking Kon!”</p>
<p>“It wasn’t intentional!” Kon exclaims, he waves his hands about uselessly. “We were going to finish our task, return the items and then go and take Tim home. The League just is an unfortunate factor, one of which has nearly killed my friend and is probably torturing Tim as we speak!”</p>
<p>His cousin doesn’t say anything for a long time, she simply sits there on the edge of the bed observing him. He doesn’t know what she’s thinking, not sure if he actually wants to know. In the end, whatever it is, she keeps it to herself and stands up from the bed. “I’ll let them know you’re awake, they’ll want to check you over and once you’re cleared you’ll need to go speak to Kal. He has questions.”</p>
<p>Kon closes his eyes and sighs. That’s a conversation he really would rather not have.</p>
<p>Kara pats his shoulder once before turning around and leaving. Then just like before she came, he was alone in the infirmary once again. It doesn’t stay that way for long because Cassie is soon bursting into the room. Kon perks up and barely slides off the bed by the time she reaches his side.</p>
<p>She bends down and pulls him up for a hug. “Thank Hera, you’re alive Kon. I was so worried, when Kara told me I was the first one awake and now that Bart <em>may not</em> wake up, I had no idea on what to think.”</p>
<p>Kon embraces her as tightly as he could before having to let go and slumps back down on the bed, his body still too weak to be upright. “I’m so sorry Cassie, none of this was ever supposed to happen. I never intended for things to escalate like this. And now Bart is hurt, you’re wounded, Tim is back in their hands and we’ll probably lose our jobs and positions because of my decisions.”</p>
<p>A sharp smack to the side of his head makes him jerk and look at her in surprise. Before he could voice his protest she’s pointing at him and glaring. “No. Absolutely not Kon. You’re not taking the blame for this, none of this was your fault. We all knew the risks of bringing that human on board, furthermore we knew what we were risking after we found out who was after Tim.”</p>
<p>“It wasn’t supposed to escalate so much,” Kon comments weakly, knowing she was in fact right with her words. They <em>did</em> know what they were getting into, Kon said it himself that they’ll deal with the League when they come across them but now that they have? Kon knows he was way out of his depth. The League are a force he, and his team, weren’t prepared to face against at all.</p>
<p>“It never does,” Cassie says lightly, “What’s happened is awful but Bart is a fighter, something we both know and we know he’ll fight until he can’t. He’ll be fine. He’ll be back chattering our ears off before we know it.”</p>
<p>Kon opens his mouth to agree with her, that their friend is a fighter who won’t let something like this stop him, when a low, deep voice speaks up from the door of the infirmary. Cassie and Kon both look over to find a Kryptonian worker standing there in an upright position with his hands behind his back.</p>
<p>“The commander wishes to speak with the two of you. Immediately.”</p>
<p>His tone and words leave them no choice in the matter. Kon shares a grave look with Cassie before nodding at the worker.</p>
<p>“We’re on our way up.” Cassie tells him. She turns back to Kon, looking over him with concern. “Are you okay? Do you need help?”</p>
<p>Kon grits his teeth and slides off the bed, having to grab hold of the edge for balance when he stumbles slightly. He could feel his body trembling with exertion, his body still weak from the kryptonite poisoning he suffered. He sends his team mate a look. “Help may be needed, please.”</p>
<p>Cassie says nothing as she takes one of his arms and throws it over her shoulders and as she positions her arm around his back.</p>
<p>After grabbing him some clothing, they wordlessly make their way up to the head office of the training operations centre where Kal is waiting for them. As they travel Kon marvels at everything around him, all sorts of memories and feelings coming back to him as they pass through the corridors of the centre.</p>
<p>The TOC is a central base for youthful Kryptonian’s who are choosing their career paths. It helps them learn the basic and fundamental skills, how to fight, survival on different planets, how to control their abilities and much more.</p>
<p>It’s practically where Kon grew up and where he met Cassie and Bart for the first time.</p>
<p>Krypton has a strong alliance with other planets throughout the universe, it’s one of the strongest to currently exist. With that alliance it allows opportunities to happen such as exchange programmes; this means beings from certain planets can come to Krypton to learn the culture and their ways while in return Kryptonian’s can visit their planet and learn their culture and ways.</p>
<p>It’s an opportunity to meet other species and see how they live, it also provides the chance to help strengthen bonds between the planets for any future business that may take place.</p>
<p>Kon met Bart and Cassie because of this exchange programme, the two of them were visiting Krypton and were staying at the training centre where Kon had been at the time learning battle strategies.</p>
<p>The three of them surprisingly hit it off and by the end of the programme they had decided to form a team between them. They chose to go down the collector’s career path, this was so they could stay together, get their own space ship, explore the universe and genuinely have fun while doing it.</p>
<p>And now here they are in the future, still at it and getting into all kinds of trouble. Getting into messes that was way out of their contracts.</p>
<p>“Enter.”</p>
<p>Kon blinks at hearing the voice. It’s only then that he realises he and Cassie have made it to the head office and were waiting outside of the room to be called in. Once the voice could be heard, Cassie leads them into the room, only stopping their movements when they’re standing in front of the desk.</p>
<p>It’s a simple room. One desk by a wall with a couple of chairs in front of it. Adjacent to it was a large book and storage self, on the opposite side was a small table surrounded by a couple more chairs. Behind the desk there was a large open pane window that allows spectacular views of the city below to be seen.</p>
<p>By the window is a tall, broad shouldered being. He’s currently staring out of the glass, not paying them any attention. Kon subtly pushes against Cassie’s hold, attempting to hold his own weight. He still felt weak and shaky but he needs to appear strong in front of this Kryptonian, looking weak won’t get him anywhere. She lets him go but keeps a hand resting on his lower back in light support just in case.</p>
<p>Kon takes a breath and draws to attention. “Sir. You wanted to see us.”</p>
<p>The Kryptonian turns and Kon’s met with an identical reflection of himself. It’s still unsettling about how much they look alike, father and son. Same black hair, same facial structure, identical blue eyes. Thankfully appearances is as far as it goes, they weren’t anything alike personality wise.</p>
<p>“Yes I did. Thank you for coming. Take a seat, I know how taxing the last few days have been for the both of you.”</p>
<p>While Kon would rather stay standing, to be on equal ground for the conversation they’re about to have, he knows he won’t be able to stand up right for much longer and silently takes one of the chairs in front of the desk. Taking the seat now by his own choosing looks better than collapsing into one later on. Besides him Cassie follows suit.</p>
<p>“Kon-el, it’s good to see you awake and moving about. How do you feel?” Kal asks.</p>
<p>Any other time, Kon would be grateful for the attention but he knows his wellbeing isn’t a priority of Kal’s.</p>
<p>“I’m well.” Kon tells him curtly. “But we all know that isn’t why you wanted to talk to us.”</p>
<p>Kal narrows his eyes at Kon. “Very well.” The older Kryptonian moves to the desk and sits down in the chair facing them. He sits up straight and stares at them, almost daring them to disobey him. “You lied to us Kon-el. You and your team are in serious trouble for your actions and the consequences they have resulted in.”</p>
<p>Kon opens his mouth to comment but a sharp look being sent his way keeps him quiet.</p>
<p>“We told you to be alert because of the rumours going around about there being a human from planet Earth in this part of the universe. We had warned you, only to find out you were <em>hosting the human being the entire time!</em> Do you have any idea what kind of implications this has caused, what this could mean not only for human beings, or even Kryptonian’s, but for every other species as well?”</p>
<p>“He was lost and scared!” Kon exclaims, unable to keep himself quiet any longer. “All we wanted to do was help him and get him back home. How were we supposed to know that Tim was involved with the League of Assassins?”</p>
<p>“Exactly. The very idea that a human had reached this part of the galaxy was a concern itself. They are by no means developed enough to have discovered space travel or advanced enough to have developed the technologies to assist with it. A human in this part of the universe is by no means an accident. Finding out that there is one around means something major is happening.</p>
<p>Furthermore we’re finding out that the League of Assassins is behind this, it means they are scheming and planning something to which we have no ideas on what it could be. That leaves us, and all of our allies, in a vulnerable position.”</p>
<p>Kal is staring at them with fire in his eyes, his lips are firmly set in a line and Kon couldn’t help the anger that boils inside of him. He isn’t one to lose his temper quickly, but Kal alone is enough to set him off.</p>
<p>“This isn’t Tim’s fault sir.” Cassie says evenly. “He had no idea who he had been kidnapped by, he couldn’t understand anyone until we were able to get him a universal translator fitted. It wasn’t until we discovered that Tim had somehow managed escaped the clutches of the Demon’s Head that he was even involved with the League to begin with.”</p>
<p>Kon appreciates Cassie backing him up, even after all of her spitfire towards the human, she does care about him and doesn’t wish him any harm.</p>
<p>“We’re not saying this is his fault. We’re saying you should have reported to us immediately as soon as you found him.” Kal snaps back. “The League of Assassins and the Demon’s Head are forces we do not want to cross paths with under any circumstances.”</p>
<p>“It’s not like it was intentional. We didn’t tell the leaders because we didn’t know what you would do to Tim. For all we know, you would have simply negotiated with the League and handed Tim back to them to stop whatever war is headed our way. Your priority wouldn’t have been Tim’s safety.”</p>
<p>“You’re right it wouldn’t have been, the priority is, and will always be, Kryptonian’s first. But now because of your team <em>every species</em> is at risk of whatever the Demon’s Head is planning. Just because he now has the human once again doesn’t mean he’s going to let it go. A Kryptonian, an Amazon and a Speedster all ‘took’ something that ‘belonged’ to him, he’s going to take that as a personal offense and use it as a declaration of war against us.”</p>
<p>Kon grits his teeth to stop himself from lashing out once again. It’s frustrating because he can see what Kal is saying but underneath it all he’s talking about simply handing Tim over and being done with it. Kon wouldn’t, <em>couldn’t</em>, accept that.</p>
<p>He squares his shoulders and levels Kal a firm look, not backing down as the older Kryptonian’s fiery gaze meets his own. “I don’t regret my actions, I would happily hide Tim’s presence from you and the leaders again in heartbeat, especially after finding out you’d happily chuck him back to the League with no remorse.</p>
<p>Punish us all how you please, the League has already had a stab at all of us, one of which is still unconscious who may not wake up, so it can’t be any worse than that. For now, my team and I are going to find a way to rescue Tim from the clutches of the Demon’s Head because no one, no matter what species they are, deserves to be in the hands of that monster. Then we can deal with the repercussions and whatever war is impending throughout our galaxy.”</p>
<p>There's a moment of silence as Kon’s words hang in the air between them all. Kal’s sat there looking at him shocked while next to him Cassie’s playing the blank emotion card. Kon knows he's going to have to have a serious conversation with her about everything soon.</p>
<p>Kal, predictably, is livid. “You will absolutely not get any more involved than what you are already. From now on, until this is situation is solved, Young Justice are to stay on Krypton and not leave the planet under no circumstances. That is an order.”</p>
<p>Kon raises an unimpressed eyebrow, he’s long gotten used the authoritative voice Kal has and they both know how good Kon is at following orders.</p>
<p>Instead of arguing and protesting at the unfairness of it all he sends Kal a fake smile and carefully climbs up to his feet. “Very well father. This has been a lovely talk but I’m feeling rather drained. If you would excuse me, I’m going to go rest up. After all I am still recovering from Kryptonite poisoning.”</p>
<p>Without waiting for any more words Kon turns and begins to make his way out of the office. Cassie is quickly there by his side, wrapping an arm around him like they had been earlier and helps him walk out of the room.</p>
<p>To his surprise Kal doesn’t call or shout at them from behind, he silently lets them leave on their own accords.</p>
<p>“You are so explaining to me what that was about Kon!” Cassie hisses into his ear as they walk through the corridors of the centre.</p>
<p>“Head to our old rooms.” Kon mutters to her as they turn a corner. “I know and I will. I mean it Cassie. We need to go back and rescue Tim, we can’t leave him there.”</p>
<p>Cassie is silent for a moment before she’s speaking up. “It won’t be easy.”</p>
<p>He doesn’t know if she’s indulging him or if she’s actually on board with the idea. “I know.”</p>
<p>“Everyone will be against us. We’ll have to sneak off, steal a ship, then get out of the planet followed by working out a plan on how we even get close to the League of Assassins base, not alone mention where would we find Tim and then the escape afterwards.”</p>
<p>“When have we ever done something that's easy?” Kon grins at her. “We have to Cass. You can either join me or I’ll go by myself anyway.”</p>
<p>“Well for starters, we need to rest and recover. Then we’ll talk about it.”</p>
<p>Kon continues grinning. Even though she hasn’t verbally confirmed it, he knows she’ll help him rescue Tim. It sucks they won’t be here for Bart but maybe the Speedster will wake up before they go. Either way Kon knows his next mission and he’s going to make sure he sees it through.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I apologise for the slow and kind of dry chapter. I understand that a lot of people will be wanting to read Tim's POV because of everything that's happening. This chapter is about finding out what's going on with the crew, how they're faring from their wounds and what is installed for them next regarding the situation they have now found themselves in. It was also interesting to include a little bit of their history of how they came together. </p>
<p>If anyone is interested here's my <a href="https://awhitehead17.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> if you want to chat or yell or anything! Up next we'll be seeing Tim's POV once again so stayed tuned! :D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warnings!!! This chapter contains talk of torture and a mild torture scene involving a knife and the use of being shocked. I wanted to mention it as a warning before hand, though it's not described in massive amounts of details but it is there. </p>
<p>Sorry for the wait for this chapter, I'm not going to lie I did struggle with it until I was able to get around the problem I was having and eventually put it together. </p>
<p>Enjoy! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>How much blood does one have to loose before they die? Tim’s not entirely sure but he's thinks he’s going to find out soon enough. Then again how would he know how much he's lost if he dies of blood loss? Because then he would be dead and not able to calculate how much he’s missing….</p>
<p>What the fuck is wrong with him?</p>
<p>His mind is in scrambles as he sits on the cold stone floor of a small, enclosed cell watching his newest wound sluggishly bleed. He stares as the red liquid pours over his pale skin, leaving a trail behind as it drips onto the floor.</p>
<p>It hurts, he knows that much. There’s a dull throbbing sensation coming from the wound which is a constant reminder of how fresh it is, no more than an hour or maybe two at most.</p>
<p>The newest wound is a deepish slice across his thigh. The Demon’s Head had “accidently” put a little bit too much pressure with the knife he had been ghosting over his skin as he interrogated Tim about his escape and those he had been with since.</p>
<p>It’s not the worst Tim has had to face, but that doesn’t make it any easier. Besides the wound in his leg, the rest of his body is aching. The most recent ‘session’ with Ra’s had him hung from the ceiling by his wrists as the alien circled around him, asking questions, demanding answers, poking and prodding him with different tools in attempts to make him talk.</p>
<p>Being stripped down to nothing but his underwear hadn’t helped but Tim can overlook that compared to everything else that had been happening.</p>
<p>When the prodding and poking hadn’t achieved what the Demon’s Head wanted, he moved to a more physical approach. There had been some slapping, one or two punches and rough manhandling but once again it’s nothing that Tim hadn’t experienced before.</p>
<p>That had been a light session and seeming to be bored of it, Ra’s had his guards throw Tim back into his usual cell and bolted the door once it shut. Tim slumped on the ground, leaning against the wall and hasn’t moved since.</p>
<p>His wound continues to bleed and Tim watches it with morbid curiosity. He knows there’s more to come. Ra’s won’t leave it at just a slice and a few bruises. Tim’s got a vague idea on what he could be expecting in future sessions but he really rather not think about it. Maybe he would bleed out from this wound before that could happen?</p>
<p>Probably not.</p>
<p>An unknown amount of time passes by as Tim sits there. The achiness only grows as he sits on the hard floor but he doesn’t do anything to try and ease the pressure off of his body. His mind drifts in and out, sometimes giving him confusing and completely random thoughts and other times being completely devoid of anything at all.</p>
<p>How were the others? Are they dead or have they somehow managed to survive the attack by the League? How are his family back home? How long has it been since he had been kidnapped and stuck in outer space? Does time work differently in space, perhaps he could have only been away for a couple weeks, or oppositely could he be away for years?</p>
<p>His mind must have given into exhaustion because the next thing Tim knows is that he’s jerking awake, smacking his head against the wall as he does, and finds the cell door opening. As he clears the fogginess from his mind, there’s an exchange of words from outside before a figure is stepping into his cell and the door shuts behind them.</p>
<p>Tim’s instantly alert. He watches as the figure steps further into the cell, allowing him to fully see them for a first time. He's surprised to find a woman standing opposite him, or at least someone who resembles a human female (he’s still completely clueless and in shock when learning about the existence of different species’ and aliens in the universe).</p>
<p>She’s petite with curves, has pale skin, is bold and has sharp facial features. She stands there watching him for a moment, studying everything about him just as Tim does in return. While he’s nearly naked, she’s fully clothed in what is the League of Assassins black uniform. After a moment he notices that she’s carrying a small case in her hand and Tim feels himself tense up at what that could mean.</p>
<p>The woman strides forwards silently and Tim could only watch her warily, he flinches when she comes to a stop at his side and then proceeds to sit on the floor next to his wounded leg. Feeling apprehensive, Tim tries to shuffle away from her, creating a space between them. “What are you-”</p>
<p>His question is cut off when she simply reaches out and grabs his leg to effortlessly drag the limb back towards her and holds it down with an arm while the other rifles through the case she had brought with her. Tim yelps at the touch and protests against the action. “Hey! What the hell? Let me go!”</p>
<p>He reaches over to push her arm off his leg but she bats his hands away and sends him a hard look. Not having much energy to really put up a fight, Tim slumps against the wall in defeat and settles for glaring at her.</p>
<p>To his surprise all she does is clean his wound before bandaging it up afterwards. Other than the occasional hiss of pain from Tim when she puts too much pressure on the cut or when the antiseptic (at least that what he thinks it is) is applied, the two of them are silent throughout the ordeal. Anytime Tim would try to move away, she would slap him, send him a glare before continuing with the administrations.</p>
<p>Once she was done, she packs up her stuff, stands up and heads towards the door, banging on it twice. When it opens up, she slips out of the room and then the door is being slammed shut and bolted. Tim blinks at the sudden disappearance, it’s like she never had been there at all.</p>
<p>What the hell was that about? That's never happened before. He also has never seen that particular assassin before either. What’s Ra’s playing at this time?</p>
<p>Tim once again gets lost in his thoughts and loses track of time, not that he had ever been following it to begin with. For a second time he's jerked awake when the door to his cell opens up and he blinks away blurriness from his vision as three tall assassins dressed in black enter the room. One of them stops at the door while the other two storm forward only stopping when they get to him.</p>
<p>His body is still sore and achy, so when they bend down and grab his arms to force him to his feet, Tim is too weak to fight their restraining holds. All he could do is stumble along with them as they march him out of the cell and down the corridor of the ship towards a room Tim is becoming very familiar with.</p>
<p>The room is empty when they enter and Tim notices how this time there’s a table in the middle of the room rather than a chair or even ropes hanging from the ceiling.</p>
<p>The assassins force him over to the table and Tim does his best to resist their movements. They pay him no mind as one lets go of him so the other could simply pick him up and slam him down onto the hard surface.</p>
<p>The table underneath Tim’s bare skin is metal and cold. It makes him flinch though he doesn’t pay it too much attention because as soon as he's on there the assassins are grabbing his arms and legs and forcing them down against the flat surface, pinning them in place as they tie leather restraints around each limb.</p>
<p>They tie both wrists down along with his ankles, stretching his body out along the cold surface. They strap one restraint across his hips, torso and even his forehead. Once they’re done, Tim is left completely immobile. No matter how hard he struggles, he couldn’t move an inch.</p>
<p>Once they were satisfied he wasn’t going anywhere they leave the room. Tim’s eyes widen and he thrashes again. So he’s being left here, strapped down to a table just to be left all alone? The worst thing is that he can’t even turn his head to survey his surroundings, all he could see is the plain ceiling above him.</p>
<p>Tim didn’t know if it was a blessing or a curse but his time alone was short. As the door to the room opens Tim listens intently as an unknown figure enters. He tracks their quiet steps as they walk around the room, then as they stop on the other side for a moment before continuing towards him on the table. He finally gets a look at the owner of the steps when they stop right beside the table and lean over into his eyeline.</p>
<p>Ra’s Al Ghul.</p>
<p>Tim didn’t know if he wanted to shake with fear or roll his eyes in annoyance. It’s certainly is an odd feeling, feeling both scared and exasperated at the same time. In the end he avoids eye contact and stares off centre at the plain ceiling.</p>
<p>“Timothy.” Ra’s says in greeting, his tone is sharp and emotionless. “Have you thought anymore about our previous conversation, what you may be willing to tell me now?”</p>
<p>Tim grits his teeth in anger and stops himself from retorting back. He despises that he now can understand what the Demon’s Head is saying. The universal translator at first was a blessing but now it seems like it’s a curse.</p>
<p>As for what he's implying, then no, Tim hasn’t thought any more about it. Ra’s wants to know more about the others, the team that had picked him up from the planet he crashed on after escaping. He wants to know what their motivations were, why did they help him, what was in it for the leaders they work for. Tim refused to tell him anything, not that there was actually anything to tell to begin with.  </p>
<p>Apparently, <em>“there aren’t any alternative motivations involved”</em>, isn’t a satisfying enough answer.</p>
<p>When Tim stays silent Ra’s looks down at him and narrows his eyes. Tim takes in a deep breath and prepares himself for whatever is about to come. His heart is pounding inside his chest and he could feel his body trembling against the table he’s strapped to.</p>
<p>Ra’s disappears from his sight, Tim figures he's gone to the other side to the room to get something. The panic and anxiety inside him only grows at the thought of what he’s about to be forced to endure. What does Ra’s want from him?</p>
<p>“If you really wanted those answers you would have taken the others in as prisoners rather than kill them off.” Tim states, fighting to keep his voice steady as he speaks. “You know there’s no point in asking me, I don’t know the real reasons why they helped other than just because they wanted to.”</p>
<p>There's a moment of silence as Ra’s either thinks about Tim’s words, debates his own answer, or simply because he’s ignoring Tim altogether.</p>
<p>“Y’know, just because I can understand you now, nothing still makes sense.” Tim continues talking. He doesn’t know why he’s sprouting out nonsense, his nerves seem to have removed his filter.</p>
<p>“Is that so?” Ra’s questions him, coming back into his sight. Tim hears him place something on the table down by his thigh. He goes to have a look at it but the strap across his forehead stops him from so.</p>
<p>Instead he replies to Ra’s, letting his mouth run without a thought. “Yup. You still haven’t told me why you kidnapped <em>me </em>of all people. All I’ve heard is that “I’m interesting”, “I’m different”. But why is that? There are over 7 billion people on Earth and you choose little ole me. Why?”</p>
<p>He stares at Ra’s, expecting an answer. Tim doesn’t know where this brave streak is coming from but he genuinely wants the answer. Why him? What had he done to deserve all of this torment and treatment?</p>
<p>Ra’s face hardens as he glares at Tim. His thin lips press into a thin line and his eyes narrow in anger. Clearly he isn’t impressed with Tim questioning him, especially in such a blunt way.</p>
<p>After a few beats Ra’s looks away down towards his hip and Tim sees his hand reach over to grab something, when it comes back into his eyeline Tim finds Ra’s now holding a metal rod. It’s curved at the end, is long and thin and at the other end there’s a wire sprouting from it leading to somewhere out of his sight.</p>
<p>Tim feels his stomach drop at the sight, dread now pooling inside of him at what this could be. Maybe bluntly speaking up wasn’t such a good idea after all.</p>
<p>The Demon’s Head looks between Tim, the metal rod and whatever is by his thigh. “You want to know why Timothy? What makes you stand out from the rest of them?” Tim’s unsure if Ra’s actually wants him to answer or if it’s a rhetorical question. In the end it doesn’t matter too much because Ra’s continues in a matter of seconds.</p>
<p>“Well, let me tell you this…”</p>
<p>The rod suddenly makes a crackling sound and lights up and Tim only has time to register those things before a sharp jolt is coursing through his body. Tim yelps at the suddenness of it. His body goes rigid and strains against the straps holding him down. It only lasts a couple seconds but Tim is left heavily breathing by the end of it.</p>
<p>Electrocution. Or something similar to it at least, maybe being shocked is the more appropriate term. <em>Fan-freaking-tastic. </em></p>
<p>After the initial shock, it takes a moment to realise that Ra’s is once again talking.</p>
<p>“You’re different because you have potential Timothy.” He says causally, as if he wasn’t practically torturing Tim as he talks. He starts wondering around the table Tim is strapped too and Tim tries to keep his eyes on him the best he can. Especially of that rod he’s holding.</p>
<p>“I’ve been watching you for some time.”</p>
<p>Before Tim could respond to that the rod crackles again and Tim clenches his teeth as his body seizes on the table. He trashes to try and get away from it but the straps hold him down firmly. Once the rod is taken away it takes a moment before his body is slumping down against the table again. His heart is hammering inside his ribcage and Tim’s mind is in shatters, unable to think about too many things at once.</p>
<p>He should be better than this but all of the events of the day is seriously catching up with his mind and body, playing into the exhaustion he's now feeling. Getting shocked certainly isn’t helping.</p>
<p>“You differ from your competitors Timothy, despite being young for your kind, you show huge potential, you think differently, taking risks which will result in the best outcome. You’re on your way of becoming one of the most powerful influences on your planet.  It’s unfortunate that your brilliant mind is trapped inside this pathetic species.”</p>
<p>This time, when the rod is pressed into his skin, a whimper escapes his lips as his body spasms on the table. His back arches up off the table straining against the restraint across his hip, his hands clench into fists and his legs jerk. Tim’s left panting when the rod is pulled away from his torso.</p>
<p>“But… why me?” Tim pants out trying to control his rapid breathing as well as get his thoughts together at the same time. “There are more powerful people than me, smarter too… older… wiser… it doesn’t make sense…”</p>
<p>“It’s not always about the present Timothy. More like what you’ll be able to achieve in the future Humans are a vile, underdeveloped species, not worth anything if you ask me but nonetheless I decided to invest, play a move no one would see coming. Thinking outside the box, as you humans would say.” Ra’s rattles off as his eyes wonder over Tim’s body. He's moved down by his feet now, almost having done a total three-sixty.</p>
<p>“You intrigued me in many ways Timothy.”</p>
<p>For a fourth time the metal rod is being jabbed into his skin, this time against his calf, and the shock travels right up through him. A pained scream escapes his lips as he thrashes against the torment. If his legs hadn’t been strapped down he would have kicked Ra’s in that stupid head of his by now. His body jerks and spasms as his muscles painfully contract with the forced tension.</p>
<p>He doesn’t know how long this particular shock goes on for but it feels like forever. It goes on long enough that he thinks he's about to pass out from the pain when it finally stops. His body doesn’t immediately get the message as his muscles stay tight for several long moments until he's slumping down on the table, heavily breathing, uncontrollably shaking and feeling more than exhausted.</p>
<p>As he composes himself, the Demon’s Head moves out of his eyeline until he comes back holding a different device in his hand. A knife. The same wickedly sharp knife he happened to have used earlier. Tim barely registers it as he lets his head roll to the side in resignation.</p>
<p>Compared to last time, Ra’s doesn’t hold back, he drags the knife along Tim’s body, letting it ghost over his sensitive skin, before actually digging it in to make the skin spilt. Tim hisses and clenches his eyes shut.</p>
<p>Unlike last time, Ra’s doesn’t stop at one slice. He repeats the motion over different areas on Tim’s body. It’s like he's playing a game. Ghosting it over one area only to cut somewhere completely different with no warnings. It’s also like he's finding what areas make Tim react more than others.</p>
<p>In an unknown amount of time later, Tim is now sporting slices over his arms, shoulders and torso.</p>
<p>“You know Timothy, I do not need to explain my reasons of why I chose <em>you</em>. Just know that I have and know I plan on making it a good investment. Even if it means beating that stubbornness out of you.” Ra’s tells him in that casual tone once again as he rounds the table Tim is still strapped to.</p>
<p>“You happen to be proving how humans are somewhat a capable species despite your lack of development and skill set.”</p>
<p>Tim lets out a pained yell as Ra’s drags the knife across his torso. It glides smoothly across his skin, splitting it apart and forcing blood to seep through it. It stings like hell. That seems to be the final one because the Demon’s Head places the knife down by his hip and stands in Tim’s eyeline. For a moment he doesn’t say anything, his cold eyes rake over Tim’s abused body, taking in every little groove, muscle and blood covered skin before he’s looking at Tim’s face.</p>
<p>All Tim could do was blink tiredly at him. His energy is low and he’s having trouble staying awake. His body is sore, feels super sensitive and heavy, like he wouldn’t be able to move a limb no matter how hard he tried to.</p>
<p>“This is just the start Timothy. Later on you’ll endure the real punishment and truly be shown why you shouldn’t disobey my orders and what happens when you embarrass my empire.”</p>
<p>Tim swallows thickly. He isn’t surprised to find out worse pain is yet to come, but it doesn’t make it easier to accept. He doesn’t know how much more he could take.</p>
<p>Tim must black out because with his next blink he finds himself upright and being held between a couple guards as he’s dragged back through the corridors of the ship. After another blink he finds himself colliding with the ground after being thrown into what is now his cell.</p>
<p>He lies in a heap on the ground for a while until he's able to get the will power to pull himself up and drag his weak body over to the wall.</p>
<p>More time passes and Tim’s next conscious thought comes when something pokes him. Frowning, Tim opens his eyes only to jerk in surprise, letting out a pained hiss with the action, when he finds a person next to him treating his wounds.</p>
<p>It’s the same woman who treated his wounds last time. Tim tiredly looks down at his body to find a majority of it bandaged up. He continues to frown, how long had she been at it before he realised?</p>
<p>He yelps when she presses down on a cut on his arm and tries to jerk his limb out of her hold but she simply slaps him and holds on tightly before continuing with her administrations. Too tired to object further, Tim lets her do what she needs to. If this is the only time he's going to get treated nicely while trapped here then he’ll take it.</p>
<p>His mind once again drifts off, he's only brought back when a sharp stinging sensation erupts from his leg. He hisses and glares at her. Tim would have thought his pain tolerance would be higher than this, then again he’s exhausted and just feels overwhelmed with everything that’s happened recently that it’s probably effecting him in more ways than one.</p>
<p>“I heard that humans were weak but you are really being pathetic.” A dry voice deadpans. Tim blinks as he comprehends the words, realising after a moment it was the women treating his wounds who spoke them.</p>
<p>Tim gasps mockingly. “She speaks!” He gasps for real when she unnecessarily presses against his wound firmly in retaliation. Tim clenches his teeth. “Rude.”</p>
<p>They fall back into silence as she finishes off cleaning the rest of his cuts and as she bandages the worst of them. When she’s finished she pulls back and regards him for a moment before standing up and crossing her arms over her chest.  </p>
<p>Tim mindlessly watches her back. The silence between them stretches and not once does her gaze stray away from him. In the end Tim gives up, the tension in the atmosphere is almost suffocating and being as tired as he was, he irritably snaps. “What? Am I supposed to say thank you or something? I can’t imagine you’re here voluntarily.”</p>
<p>She gives him a pointed looked, one which is a mixture of amusement and surprise, as if she hadn’t expected the sass from him, especially in his current state. “I suppose not.” She states in the end, keeping a steady gaze on him. “I happened to be thinking that this is in fact a rather unfortunate circumstance, on your end of course.”</p>
<p>Tim snorts, wincing soon after as his body shifts uncomfortably. “Because I totally chose to be here in this situation. Beaten, bruised and bloody with no idea what’s about to come my way in the future.”</p>
<p>“Your purpose of being here was originally something else.”</p>
<p>Her words get Tim’s attention immediately and his eyes snap to her. “What?”</p>
<p>She shrugs like it’s a bunch of nonsense. “I don’t know what it is, I don’t really care, but yeah boss man had you taken for a different reason. You weren’t supposed to be a slave initially, I think the Demon’s Head got rather enamoured of you and decided to keep you for himself.”</p>
<p>Tim’s mind takes a moment to catch up with what she’s telling him. Ra’s had told him earlier that Tim intrigued him in some ways but hearing it again was rattling. Also finding out that he was originally taken for other reasons is also worrying. If he wasn't supposed be a slave to be paraded around and tortured, then what else is there to be? What else was he needed, <em>wanted</em>, for?</p>
<p>Tim takes a shaky breath and tries to compose himself. It’s been a long, <em>long</em>, mentally draining and exhausting day. He wishes he could just curl up on his bed, wrapped up in his blanket on the softest of bed sheets and sink into his fluffy pillow. However, as life has proven, we can’t always get what we want. Instead he’s stuck in a cell, nearly naked, being tortured and stuck in out of space.</p>
<p>He looks back up at the assassin who dressed his wounds. “Was there anything else or are you going to keep badgering me until my next torture session?”</p>
<p>“Am I what?” She scrunches up her face in confusion. “My work here is done, you’ll see me again when the Demon’s Head allows it.”</p>
<p>Then just like that she turns away from him, heads for the door and bangs on it twice. After a short pause it opens up and she steps out of the cell, the door slams shut with a loud thud and Tim once again finds himself alone in the cold cell.</p>
<p>He blinks at the recently vacated spot, trying to wrap his head around the recent events. The longer this day goes on for the stranger it’s gets. Maybe he's now hallucinating? Having passed into insanity territory? Whatever it is, it’s not like Tim could fight it, he’s exhausted and quite honestly past the point of caring.</p>
<p>Time drifts as Tim sits there alone in his cell. His body having long gone numb and his mind having gone away with the fairies some time ago. He still doesn’t fall asleep though, just finding it difficult to keep his eyes shut without jolting awake from panic a few moments later.</p>
<p>He’s brought out of his daze when the door opens again. Tim’s surprised to find that it’s the same female as before and this time she’s carrying a white bag in her hand. Tim watches as she steps into the cell, his eyes widen when she chucks the bag down by his feet.</p>
<p>“The boss says you’re allowed these items. He also passed a message along saying he’ll go back to treating you better once your punishment is over, once you have paid the price for making us look foolish.”</p>
<p>Then as quick as she came, she left. Tim only breathes as he looks curiously at the bag. It takes a huge amount of effort but he's able to push his body upwards and is able to stretch his hand out to grab the thing. Once it’s in his grasp he falls back with a grunt and takes a moment to breathe before looking through the contents of the bag.</p>
<p>To his surprise and even delight, he finds the bag has a set of plain dark clothing, something that resembles crackers and a water bottle. The clothing is a plain dark grey t-shirt and black sweat pants. Tim struggles putting the clothing on, his abused body protesting at the movement but he has to admit he immediately feels better being covered up.</p>
<p>Once that’s sorted he pays attention to the water and the crackers. The bottle is sealed so Tim opens it up and takes cautious sips, as much as he would like to down the whole thing he doesn’t know when he’ll next be getting another one. Eventually he turns to the crackers and opens the packet, finding them to be plain and begins to nibble on one.</p>
<p>Time passes once again and all Tim does is take his time with the water and makes his way through several crackers. He has no idea what’s in store for him next and he's terrified to find out but he knows he needs to be resilient and not give in. Perhaps like last time he can try to escape again, or maybe the others somehow survived the attack and would come to rescue him.</p>
<p>He doesn’t know what to plan or expect but he knows he needs to keep fighting every step of the way.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry it's taken a while to get this chapter up, but here it is at last. Hopefully the longer chapter makes up for the wait of it! A lot happens in this installment so brace yourselves!</p>
<p>Please enjoy! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kon does his best to ignore the pointed look being sent his way. It’s incredibly difficult considering the intensity of the stare. He shifts uncomfortably in the chair he’s sat on and keeps his focus on the paper in front him as if he’s actually interested in what’s on the page.</p>
<p>From the side, Cassie continues to stare at him in that unnerving way, not moving an inch as she waits for him to break.</p>
<p>The two of them were in Kon’s room at the TOC and it’s been a couple days since they woke up from the attack by the League. Bart still hasn’t woken up which is major concern, the two of them had been sat his bedside for several hours at a time, hoping he would soon wake up but he has yet to. In that time the two of them also recovered themselves, they’re both nearly back to normal and at full power the only thing is the lingering fatigue which quickly catches up on them at random times.</p>
<p>Right now they were discussing a plan to go rescue Tim from the League of Assassins. Well, Kon pitched an idea and now Cassie is glaring at him probably for the stupidity of that idea.</p>
<p>In the end, the weight of her looks does make him break and he turns to her almost desperately. “Look we don’t have a lot of options on how we’re going to do this, especially covertly.”</p>
<p>“What you just said Kon-el has got to be one of the most moronic ideas I have ever heard of.” Cassie bites out still glaring at him. From her position on the bed next to him, she crosses her arms over her chest and stares in disbelief. “You’re suggesting that we go to the ship, sneak on board and <em>purposely </em>get caught. That idea alone could easily backfire against us Kon!”</p>
<p>Kon sighs in frustration. “Look it’s an option. Anyway it might work for us because the Demon’s Head may be interested in us because we’re the ones who picked Tim up originally, so he may actually want to keep us alive to find out why.”</p>
<p>Cassie shakes her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you even thought up that idea.”</p>
<p>“Well it’s one of three actually,” Kon points out, “the other ideas I had were that we sneak on the ship and sneak around until we find Tim. The other is that <em>one</em> of us purposely gets caught and acts as a distraction while the other goes off to try and find Tim.”</p>
<p>There’s a moment of silence as Cassie takes in his suggestions, probably trying to work out which of them is the least stupid one and will less likely get them killed. In the end she sighs and rubs a hand across her face in obvious displeasure with the situation they’re in.</p>
<p>“I don’t like any of those plans.” She declares bluntly. Kon nods accepting that, he’s not exactly a fan either but it’s all he's been able to come up with in the short time frame they’ve had.</p>
<p>“If I have to choose one, however, I suppose we sneak on board and sneak around until we find Tim. Though we’ll have no idea how many assassins we’ll be up against, what kind of weapons they’ll have prepared or what level of combat they have. Then there’s the issue of where we’ll find Tim. We know the Demon’s Head has an interest in him so Tim will be kept close to him. How are we expecting to free him? Then there’s escaping the ship once we have Tim.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” Kon admits quietly, “I haven’t really thought about that. My initial thought is that we find out where Tim is and what condition he’s in and go from there. We make it up as we go along.”</p>
<p>Cassie gets up from the bed and starts pacing around the small space of his room, one hand tapping her face she thinks things through while the other is wrapped around her torso. “Not only are we talking about sneaking on the ship but how are we supposed to get close enough to actually get onboard without being detected? There's no way the base ship wouldn’t have any sensors that pick up foreign ships in range.”</p>
<p>“Again, it was going to be one of those, we’ll deal with it when we get to that stage.”</p>
<p>“Then, even before that, how are we planning on escaping Krypton? Your father made it very clear he didn’t want us leaving the planet, we’re going to have to get creative to be able to sneak away and find a ship to take. There's no way we can take ours, it’s too obvious.”</p>
<p>Kon sighs and rubs a hand through his hair. He hadn’t even considered taking their own ship, because as Cassie said it’s too obvious. His father will no doubt have it locked down somewhere being watched in case they attempt to leave Krypton despite his orders. Which they are planning, obviously, but in a different way.</p>
<p>“Could there be another ship we could take? Anyone we would know who may be willing to lend us theirs?” Kon asks openly as his own mind searches for an answer.</p>
<p>There's a moment of silence between them as Kon stays seated on the chair while Cassie paces the room. Eventually the Amazon sits down on the bed with a huff and falls backwards until she’s stretched out.</p>
<p>Kon looks away from her and turns back to the paper in front of him. It wasn't anything much, just his ideas written down on the page in messy writing. A loud gasp gets his attention and he whips his head over to Cassie who’s now sat in an up right potion with a wide-eyed expression. “The compound!”</p>
<p>Kon blinks at her, not understanding the exclamation. “What?”</p>
<p>“The compound!” She repeats excitedly. “I’m certain the Kryptonian ship compound has an old League of Assassins ship parked in it. It would be perfect if we can get to it and start it up. Also it wouldn’t be tracked because the trackers would have long been disconnected when it was first brought to the compound.”</p>
<p>His own eyes widen at the idea. He hadn’t even thought of that. “With that ship it wouldn’t be picked up by the base ship because of its origins, it’ll bypass any form of security. Cassie that's brilliant!”</p>
<p>“Right, so we get that one and use that to get to the base ship, but how are we going to find the location of it?”</p>
<p>“What about Tim’s translator?” Kon suggests after a moment of thinking. “We should be able to track Tim’s location with the remote, that’ll lead us to the ship and then even to Tim once we’re there.”</p>
<p>Cassie’s face lights up for a brief second before she’s frowning once again. “That’s good, however the remote is on our ship which is being guarded.”</p>
<p>Kon shakes his head. “My father said we can’t leave Krypton, not that we couldn’t go to our ship. All of our belongings are on there, we could make up something saying we need to grab something off the ship and promise there’s nothing more to it. So we’re not exactly lying, just leaving out some details.”</p>
<p>His teammate nods, accepting the idea. “That sounds good. So we grab Tim’s universal translator remote, take a League of Assassins ship, track Tim’s location with the remote and then….”</p>
<p>“We go from there.” Kon finishes off. “What about at night fall we take the ship, there are less Kryptonian’s about then.”</p>
<p>“Yeah. We’ll have to sneak past the guards and work out how to start the ship but I think that's possible. What about Bart though, what are the chances that he’ll wake up when we’re gone?”</p>
<p>Kon frowns, his chest suddenly feeling heavy at the thought of leaving their teammate behind. It’s terrible that they don’t know when he's going to wake up. Kon sighs, “We could leave a note? An explanation of what we’re doing? We can’t plan around him because we don’t know when he's going to wake up.”</p>
<p>“That's a good idea, then he won’t be panicking when he can’t find us either. I don’t like it but it’s better than nothing. How about I grab Tim’s remote and you write Bart’s note, once that's done we’ll drop it off to Bart and then make our way to the compound.”</p><hr/>
<p>It was dusk turning nightfall when Kon visits Bart’s still unconscious form. As it always did, the sight of his usually energetic teammate now unmoving makes him uncomfortable. It wasn't right. Bart should be awake and talking off ears with his endless chatter. Bart should be joining them on this unsanctioned rescue mission, not left behind in the infirmary.</p>
<p>Kon leaves the envelope containing the note he had written detailing their plan to save Tim in an easy place where the Speedster would find it when he eventually wakes up <em>(because he will wake up, Kon believes that)</em>.</p>
<p>He gives Bart one more glance over, quickly checks his vitals to find that nothing has changed, before he turns to leave the infirmary. Hopefully they’ll be back with Tim before he wakes up and everything will go back to how it should be.</p>
<p>As he leaves the infirmary Kon leans against the wall, waiting for Cassie to come by. He hopes that she’s had some success getting on board their ship to grab Tim’s remote. They could always track Tim’s location or the base ship’s location using other methods, but anything else feels like they would be caught before they get the chance to do anything.</p>
<p>When Kon hears footsteps approaching him he straightens up and turns towards them only to freeze when he finds Kara walking towards him. She has her training armour on with her long blonde hair swaying with each step she takes.</p>
<p>She comes to stand by him, giving him a questioning look. “What are you doing here Kon? How did it go with Kal?”</p>
<p>Kon sighs and rolls his eyes as he leans back against the wall. “It went as well as expected, nothing out of the ordinary. As for why I’m here, I came to see Bart. Why are you here?”</p>
<p>“I got sent by the mentors to grab some medical supplies. We’re teaching how to dress a wound in the field if our powers weren’t available.” She tells him. Kon nods and gestures to the door, as if allowing her in.</p>
<p>Kara continues into the infirmary but suddenly back tracks her steps and narrows her eyes at him. She stands up straight and puts her hand on her hips. “You’re up to something.” It wasn’t a question.</p>
<p>Kon shrugs, shaking his head. “No. I’m not doing anything. What makes you say that?”</p>
<p>He stares at her, silently pleading that she doesn’t call him out on it. If she finds out what he and Cassie have planned then she’ll either go to Kal and tell on them or demand to join. Both options were as bad as the other.</p>
<p>“Kon.”</p>
<p>“Kara, nothing is going on! Trust me, Kal made it very clear he didn’t want me or my team to be doing anything for the time being.”</p>
<p>Kara opens her mouth to respond when a different set of footsteps could be heard coming towards them. These were accompanied along with a voice speaking out as they come around the corner of the corridor. “Kon I got lucky and was able to easily access our ship. I managed to grab -”</p>
<p>Cassie stops short when she realises he’s not alone. Kon sighs and rubs a hand over his face, well there goes that lie. He glances at Kara who looks even more sceptical than before. She raises her eyebrow at him and glares, silently demanding answers.</p>
<p>Kon’s gaze flickers between the two girls before he breaks and ends up blurting out, “Okay, fine, yes I’m up to something! But I’m not telling you what because it’s got nothing to do with you. Please don’t tell anybody, especially Kal. If it all goes well we should be back soon enough!”</p>
<p>“Kon!” Cassie scolds him and slaps him on the arm.</p>
<p>Kon grimaces and watches as Kara looks at him, taking in his words. To his surprise all his cousin does is sighs and looks resigned. “You’re going to rescue that human aren’t you? Even though Kal has probably forbidden you from doing so.”</p>
<p>“Maybe…”</p>
<p>Kara nods her head as if she had been expecting this, after a moment she pins both of them with pointed looks. “Fine. The less I know the better, however I will cover for you where I can.”</p>
<p>“Really? Why?”</p>
<p>“You’re family Kon. You would do the same if the roles were reversed, I would offer to come with but it may be better that I stay on Krypton instead. Whatever you’re planning, be careful, if you need assistance don’t hesitate to call for help.”</p>
<p>An overwhelming feeling of gratitude fills Kon as his cousin talks. Once she’s finished speaking he pulls her in for a quick hug, thanking her as he does so. When they pull apart Kara waves them off.</p>
<p>“She’ll keep quiet right?” Cassie questions him as they make their way to Krypton’s ship compound.</p>
<p>Kon nods, feeling confident in his answer. “Yes. If she says she’ll keep quiet then she’ll do so. Kara is trustworthy like that, I’m grateful for her.”</p>
<p>The two of them continue in silence after that. Getting to the compound unspotted was surprisingly easy, getting into the place happened to be just as easy which has them sharing troubled looks but they work with what they’ve got.</p>
<p>They find a League of Assassin’s ship at the back of the compound, buried amongst all the other ships around it. Unexpectedly, not only do they discover one ship but two ships instead. The ships were small and circular with rounded engines coming out of the sides. They were also rusted and worn, the age of them easy to be seen as they’re not made of materials from recent times. Kon wonders how long they’ve been kept in the compound for.</p>
<p>Choosing one of the two ships, together he and Cassie make their way inside it after quickly working out how to open the door. Like it is on the outside, the interior of the ship is just as old. Old technology lined the control room, certainly things from before Kon’s time alive.</p>
<p>Kon wordlessly steps up to the dashboard and tries to figure out what he’s seeing. He’s seen a lot of different technologies and energy signatures that ships from around the galaxy are made of but nothing quite like this and certainly not this old.</p>
<p>As he starts to experiment with different buttons and levers to turn the ship on, Kon hears Cassie rustling around behind him looking at other parts of the ship.</p>
<p>One particular action of pulling two levers simultaneously has the ship making a clicking sound which soon abruptly stops. Kon eyes widen when he realises he's found the way to start it up and instantly repeats the action. It takes a few times before the engines kick in and the vroom sound could be heard signalling the ship finally turning on.</p>
<p>Now it’s powered up, Kon needs to work out how to fly the thing. It shouldn’t be too hard. Despite all of the different kind of space crafts out in the universe, every single one Kon has ever come across have all had the same basic piloting properties. This one shouldn’t be too different. Hopefully.</p>
<p>After some time, Kon eventually has them up in the air and shooting out of Krypton’s atmosphere.</p>
<p>He and Cassie don’t relax until they’re far enough away from the planet and have determined that they weren’t being chased by any Kryptonian’s for stealing a ship from the compound.</p>
<p>Kon turns to Cassie who has now joined him at the dashboard. “Time to track where Tim is. Can you bring out the remote?”</p>
<p>Cassie wordlessly pulls out three remotes from somewhere behind her and places them all on the dashboard. Kon gives her a look for the extra two remotes. Cassie rolls her eyes as she explains. “I got Tim’s remote and at the same time I grabbed ours so the leaders won’t be able to track us.”</p>
<p>Kon nods, unable to argue against that. It was smart and certainly something he hadn’t thought about. His teammate goes ahead and starts up Tim’s remote, going through it’s settings until she finds the tracking system.</p>
<p>It’s takes a while until it pings with a known location. Cassie reiterates Tim’s location, therefore where the base ship of the League are, and Kon guides the ship in the direction they need to go.</p><hr/>
<p>Surprisingly it didn’t take them too long to reach the base ship of the League of Assassins. While it’s a good thing they haven’t had to travel galaxies to reach it, it leaves an uneasy feeling in Kon because of how close they are to Krypton. Was there a particular reason for that or is it just a coincidence?</p>
<p>When all of this mess is sorted this will have to be something Kon brings up to the leaders when he gets back to Krypton. That’s saying if they choose to listen to him of course, he's going to be in so much trouble for disobeying orders.</p>
<p>The base ship is huge. It’s has a dark exterior which blends in well with the void surrounding them, from a distance no species would spot it at a glance. It’s long and has multiple levels. On the top deck Kon could easily see various of weapons set up in defence, a mixture of large canons and lasers. Near the bottom of the ship there is a hatch open and Kon watches as smaller ships and pods come and go in a steady stream.</p>
<p>Surrounding the base ship were smaller ones all scattered around. Kon’s guessing those smaller ships are the first line of defence. The positioning of them forms a ring around the base ship, covering every angle possible, all prepared for any kind of attack.</p>
<p>“Oh Hera…” Cassie sighs next to him. She turns and looks at him expectantly. “Well? Here we are, what’s your plan?”</p>
<p>Kon casts his gaze back onto the ships to avoid making eye contact with her. He hesitates to answer because he doesn’t actually have a plan in mind. Now they’re here it’s suddenly become all that more real and he realises even more than before of how much danger they’re in.</p>
<p>“You don’t have a plan do you?” Cassie accuses him after a long pause.</p>
<p>“Absolutely not. No.” Kon admits immediately, figuring that there’s no point in lying about it. That and also there’s the fact that Cassie knows him too well by now.</p>
<p>The Amazon sighs again and Kon knows what’s coming. However before she could open her mouth to scold him the two of them were suddenly thrown off balance. At the unexpected impact they both collide against the wall hard and collapse to the ground in a heap.</p>
<p>Kon’s disoriented from the sudden collision but before he could make any sense of what happened the ship lurches again forcing him and Cassie to propel to the other side of the ship in a tangle of limbs.</p>
<p>The two of them curse and scramble up to their feet, trying to get back to the dashboard. It’s almost an impossible task with how much the ship is shaking and with the unpredictable violent jerks happening.</p>
<p>“We’re being attacked!” Cassie exclaims glancing at him wildly as she grips the dashboard to keep her balance.</p>
<p>Kon grunts when he almost tumbles over again. He grasps the dashboard next to Cassie and starts rapidly pressing various of buttons to try and work out the ships defence system. After a moment he could feel trepidation rising up inside of him after nothing happens and when they’re blasted again.</p>
<p>“Kon!”</p>
<p>“I don’t know!” Kon yells back frantically continuing to slam different buttons. “I thought we were far enough away that they wouldn’t have picked us up.”</p>
<p>“Obviously not!”</p>
<p>“You think!”</p>
<p>In the middle of their screaming conversation everything abruptly stops and everything goes still. Kon peers over at Cassie in confusion, not understanding what’s going on, and the Amazon simply returns the look.</p>
<p>They were being attacked and then suddenly not. Kon’s got no idea what to expect. When an enemy attacks usually they go straight for the kill and destruction until nothing was left behind. He didn’t know what to make of this unusual tactic.</p>
<p>A sudden thought comes to mind, what if they’re preparing for the final blow? Aiming some kind of canon laser or missile at them right now? They have absolutely no way of defending themselves against a blow like that.</p>
<p>Just as he’s about to voice this to Cassie a deafening blast sounds out and the ship violently jerks. Unable to keep his balance this time, Kon falls to the floor but not before smacking his head against the dashboard. He hits the ground with a groan and clutches his head as everything becomes fuzzy.</p>
<p>He hears Cassie shout something but to Kon it sounds muffled and then there’s a rapid blast of harsh air. As he looks up everything tilts to the side so he quickly shuts his eyes and clutches his head once again in attempts to make the spinning stop. What’s wrong with him? What’s happening?</p>
<p>His attention is pulled away from his head when he feels something grab his arm, at that point his instincts kick in before he could comprehend what’s happening. He swings out blindly with a hand in hopes of hitting whatever has him hold but it dodges his punch and easily captures his hand forcing it back down to the ground.</p>
<p>A heavy weight keeps in it place and Kon tries to tug his arm to free it but finds he couldn’t With one arm pinned to the ground he swings blindly with his other hand but the exact same happens again. With both arms pinned against the ground, Kon is forced to lie down on his front. He squirms against the hold, still disoriented from earlier, and only stops when he feels a sharp pressure on his lower back keeping him place.</p>
<p>He needs to clear his head, he needs to work out what is happening. He takes a couple deep breaths and tilts his head up to look around, finding that the spinning has now mostly stopped. His view is limited from his position on the floor but he makes out multiple bodies around in the ship. Several more than what there were moments ago.</p>
<p>“Cassie?” He calls out to his teammate.</p>
<p>Instead of the desired voice answering his call, a deeper and more rich tone answers instead. “Oh he’s back with us. Hello pal, how’s it hanging?”</p>
<p>Kon frowns and continues to look around, trying to find the owner of the voice. Eventually one of the bodies kneels down in front of him and leers at him. It’s a male with blue skin, pointed ears and striking green eyes. He’s wearing a black uniform with the League of Assassins logo printed on it. Kon doesn’t know what species he is but he knows he isn’t pleased with how he's being spoken too.</p>
<p>“Can we help you?” Kon asks rhetorically. Even through his muddled mind he could now work out what’s going on.</p>
<p>“Yeah actually.” The blue male says almost thoughtfully. “Mind telling us what you’re up to? The Demon’s Head doesn’t exactly like intruders.”</p>
<p>“Just paying our respects.” Kon says without thinking. In response there’s a sharp impact against his back which makes his grunt. Maybe he should just keep his mouth shut from now on?</p>
<p>The blue male goes to speak again but he's cut off by another member speaking up first. “The master has just responded. He wants them on the ship, locked up in a cell. He’ll pay these two a special visit himself.”</p>
<p>That makes the blue male hum, he casts a mindful look at Kon and responds. “Very well. Prepare to transport them over and someone take control of this ship to drive it into one of the bays onboard.”</p>
<p>Kon watches as they all part ways, each doing the separate tasks ordered of them though the pressure on his back never eases, it stays there as a constant reminder to the situation he’s in. Kon doesn’t get long to observe what’s going on because the blue male is back and is holding a piece of cloth in one of his hands.</p>
<p>He smirks at Kon, looking rather pleased about something. The look makes Kon aware that something unpleasant is about to happen.</p>
<p>“Sorry about this, but it makes our jobs much easier if we didn’t have you fighting against us.” With those words he stretches out and places the cloth over Kon’s nose and mouth, attempting to smother him with it.</p>
<p>Kon jerks against the action, trying to twist his head away as well as break the hold that is on his back. The grip on his only tightens and suddenly there’s a hand in his hair, forcing his head still against the ground as the cloth blocks him breathing.</p>
<p>Kon does his best to fight against it, to not breathe in on whatever is on that cloth but he knows it’s too late. His body slowly becomes unresponsive and his mind starts to drift as his eyes become heavy. The cloth is finally removed from his face when he could no longer lift his head and when he could no longer open his eyes. After that everything goes black.</p>
<p>Jerking awake, Kon sucks in a lungful of air. It takes a moment to control his breathing but once he feels calmer he finally observes his surroundings. There are three solid plain walls, the last has a large metal door in place and Kon couldn’t see any furniture in the room. He does however find out he isn’t alone, Cassie sits opposite him, leaning against the wall looking completely bored out of her mind but thankfully unharmed.</p>
<p>“Cassie?” He croaks out, grimacing at the way his voice sounds. Whatever they used to knock him out certainly did the trick. It makes him wonder what they used because there isn’t really a lot that could make a Kryptonian go unconscious.</p>
<p>His call gets her attention and she perks up at seeing him awake. “Kon! Oh thank Hera, for a while I thought you may have been dead and they simply left me in here with your body.”</p>
<p>Kon blinks at her but chooses not to make a comment, there are more important matters to address first. “Where are we?”</p>
<p>“On the base ship, locked in a cell after getting captured on our own ship before we even had the chance to do anything.” She looks both unimpressed and frustrated by the end of her summary. Kon grimaces again, feeling like she has a point and the right to be upset with current circumstances.</p>
<p>When he doesn’t say anything Cassie huffs. “I told you this was a bad idea, and here we are, captured!”</p>
<p>“At least we’re not dead.”</p>
<p>“<em>Not yet</em>.”</p>
<p>Kon sighs and looks around the cell, not feeling very hopeful. “Look, we’re on the ship. All we have to do now is come up with some of plan to get out, find Tim and escape.”</p>
<p>“Because everything up to now has been so easy.”</p>
<p>“That's not helpful Cassie.”</p>
<p>Before she could retort a loud cranking sound could be heard and the two of them turn their attention to the door as it opens. Kon feels himself tense up as a figure appears in the doorway and enters the room with the door slamming shut behind them.</p>
<p>It takes a moment to work out who’s in front of them but when it clicks Kon sucks in a sharp breath. It’s the Demon’s Head himself, Ra’s Al Ghul. Kon’s never seen him in person before, he’s only ever heard stories, rumours and seen the occasional picture but all of that is very different compared to seeing him with his own eyes.</p>
<p>“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I have certainly been waiting for this, especially when you decided to take what is mine and run off with it.” His voice his deep and low but holds some resentment in the tone as he speaks.</p>
<p>Kon doesn’t know what to make of the comment so he stays silent. He glances at Cassie to see if she has any ideas and finds the Amazon copying his actions, simply staying quiet.</p>
<p>“I can’t let you get away with what you did of course but the punishments could be less severe if you tell me what I want to know and if you simply cooperate. Also this whole nonsense of yours has taken me away from something rather important so I wouldn’t do anything too rash if I were you.”</p>
<p>Kon swallows thickly, trying to work out what he’s after. Obviously he's talking about Tim and it infuriates Kon that he's talking about Tim like he's a piece of property. It isn’t right and certainly isn’t fair.</p>
<p>His and Cassie’s silence doesn’t seem to bother the Demon’s Head because he continues to talk without any prompting. “Now why did you take the human?”</p>
<p>He looks between Kon and Cassie waiting for an answer. Kon shares a look with Cassie, unsure on what to do. His teammate looks back just as unsure and gives a light shrug of the shoulders.</p>
<p>After a moment of silence Ra’s speaks up again, this time sounding more agitated. “I’m waiting for an answer. Why did you take the human?”</p>
<p>“We didn’t <em>take</em> him.” Kon snaps in the end, hating the way he’s referring to Tim. “Tim was lost and confused. We wanted to help him.”</p>
<p>Piercing eyes turn on him and Kon feels himself shiver from the intense look being sent his way. “See that’s exactly what the human said. How you just wanted to help him, how there are no ulterior motivations. If that happens to be the truth then why did you help him? He could have been a spy.  Did your precious Kryptonian leaders order it of you?”</p>
<p>Kon grits his teeth trying to keep his temper in check. “We first found Tim in a destroyed pod after <em>escaping you</em>. He was a lost and confused soul who doesn’t deserve anything that has happened to him. We wanted to help him get back home. At the time we didn’t even know he was a human but that didn’t change anything.”</p>
<p>Was there something wrong with wanting to help another being in the universe? Why couldn’t he help someone without there being some sort of repercussion from it?</p>
<p>“You gave him a universal translator.” The Demon’s Head states looking at him thoughtfully. “I assume that's how you tracked him too.”</p>
<p>Kon’s eyes widen at the mention of the translator, now suddenly remembering the remotes that had been on the ship. If the League get their hands on those remotes they were screwed because it wasn't just Tim’s in danger but his and Cassie’s remotes too.</p>
<p>His eyes dart to Cassie in silent panic. Her eyes were also wide in fear, as if the same thoughts were going through her head. When they make eye contact she mouths, “<em>I hid them, they should be safe. Hopefully.” </em></p>
<p>That doesn’t do much to reassure Kon. Thankfully Ra’s attention is only on him so he didn’t catch their brief exchange. Kon swallows and looks back at him. “We did because he couldn’t understand us. He was freaking out and communication was difficult. We decided to give him a translator <em>to help him</em>. There’s nothing more to it.”</p>
<p>The Demon’s Head’s eyes narrow at him and Kon could see that he's getting frustrated with Kon’s answers. It’s not what he wants but Kon’s only telling the truth. It continues to annoy him that Ra’s believes his team had other reasons for picking up Tim off that planet and helping him. Kon speaks up without meaning to. “Just because you don’t know the meaning of helping someone out of kindness of your heart doesn’t mean that everyone is as merciless as your are. You can help someone just because you want to. There doesn’t have to be another reason for it.”</p>
<p>A tense silence fills the atmosphere of the cell after Kon finishes talking. The Demon’s Head stays silent, staring at him with an expression Kon couldn’t work out. Kon starts to panic as he stares back, his mind thinking that he may have gone to far with his words. It only intensifies when the Ra’s stalks forward until he's looming over Kon.</p>
<p>Ra’s leans down, never breaking eye contact with him, until they’re breaths apart. His voice is low and threatening when he speaks to Kon, his gaze fierce and promising painful things to come. “I’ll show you how exactly <em>merciless </em>I can be Kryptonian. You think you know what kindness is? Well I’ll show you a new meaning to the definition and then we’ll see what you think about that concept afterwards.”</p>
<p>After that Ra’s pulls away, giving him a hard look before backing up and heading towards the door. The Demon’s Head turns back around glances at the two of them. “I wouldn’t consider escaping if I were you. You wouldn’t get very far. Those bracelets of yours Amazon, are there to keep your powers subdued, unless you have a powerful enchantress available, you won’t be removing them any time soon. And you Kryptonian, your powers won’t be available as Kryptonite particles were injected into your system. Not enough to kill you of course but enough to be effective.”</p>
<p>With that Ra’s bangs on the door and is let out of the room. The door slams shut behind him with a deafening thud.</p>
<p>It’s when his presence has finally left the cell that Kon lets out a long breath that he hadn’t realised he had been holding in. All of the tension eases from his body as he slumps against the wall behind him even more than before.</p>
<p>Opposite him, Cassie is openly staring. “Kon you just lectured the head of the League of Assassins about <em>kindness.” </em></p>
<p>Kon blinks, taking a moment to process everything that had just happened. “I guess I did. A lot a good it did though.”</p>
<p>Cassie shakes her head in disbelief.</p>
<p>After Ra’s visit time passes slowly for the two of them. They have no idea how long they’ve been trapped in the cell for but not once do they see another body enter the cell for the duration they are in there for.</p>
<p>They talk to pass the time. Talking about the bracelets encasing Cassie’s wrists, how Kon feels with the Kryptonite in his system, about what they could do to try and help Tim, how they may escape the cell, how Bart may be doing and what they may face if they return back to Krypton.</p>
<p>Within the cell they had the freedom to move around as they please. To their surprise the League hadn’t restrained them to the wall or the floor. Of course having the freedom to move about has both Kon and Cassie hopelessly searching the cell for anything they could to help them escape. Predictably they find nothing.</p>
<p>The two of them slump against the wall opposite the door and slide down to the ground side by side. Cassie brings her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them while Kon stretches out his legs in front of him.</p>
<p>They sit in companionable silence for a long time. They do nothing but sit there lost in their own thoughts as they wait for something to happen.</p>
<p>Kon’s startled out of his thoughts when a loud thump could be heard by the door. He eyes the metal contraption suspiciously and jerks again when a second thump could be heard. He glances at Cassie to find her staring vacantly at the ceiling with a scowl in place. She hadn’t heard the noises.</p>
<p>He nudges her to get her attention. After a small jump from where he startled her she raises an eyebrow in question. Kon gestures to the door, “Something’s up. There were thumps outside just now.”</p>
<p>As he finishes speaking a familiar cranking sound could be heard and the door opens up. Both Cassie and Kon get to their feet, preparing themselves for what they’re about to face. Multiple figures enter the room, three step forward while one hangs back keeping the door from shutting closed. They were all wearing the signature black League of Assassins uniform. Each of them had different skin tones, different features and different weapons strapped to their backs.</p>
<p>Kon shares an unsure look with Cassie, neither of them knowing what’s going on or what’s about to happen.</p>
<p>Before they could react two of the figures in front of them reach up to grab the collars of their uniforms and suddenly their faces shimmer, blur and bleed away to reveal new faces. Ones that were very familiar.</p>
<p>Kon and Cassie find themselves now staring at Bart and Kara.</p>
<p>Next to those two, the third figure begins to change and Kon recognises this as shape shifting. Soon enough another familiar face is looking at them. M’gann, a long time old friend who is a Martian, is there smiling at them.</p>
<p>Kon looks back at Kara and Bart and before he could stop himself he’s darting forward and throwing his arms around his friend. After a moment he pulls back and looks over the Speedster with a critical eye. “You’re awake? You’re okay? How did you get here? <em>What</em> are you doing here!”</p>
<p>Bart laughs and instantly starts talking in super speed about his journey of finding them.</p>
<p>It’s fast and its rapid and Kon has a hard time keeping up with what he’s saying. In the end Cassie cuts Bart off with her own action of hugging him.</p>
<p>Kon looks over at Kara who’s smiling at them. “What happened to staying on Krypton? How are you here? What was that?”</p>
<p>He has so many questions that need answering but he doesn’t know what he wants answered first or what’s the most important. He hadn’t been expecting to find his cousin and previously unconscious teammate standing in front of him on the League of Assassins base ship.</p>
<p>“Look first things first, are you both okay?” Kara asks seriously, looking them over.</p>
<p>They both nod. “Yeah we’re fine but how-”</p>
<p>She cuts him off. “Bart woke up not long after you left. He found the note you wrote and then found me, he insisted on leaving to help you. I knew I couldn’t let him go alone so I joined him. As we were planning on what to do, we bumped into M’gann who conveniently happened to be visiting Krypton. We shared what was going on and she decided to join us, stating that her shape shifting abilities would be useful. After that she also called in a favour with a sorceress she’s apparently good friends with and got us some enchanted disguises which we can manipulate with our thoughts and a small button.</p>
<p>We used M’gann’s bioship to track your location using your DNA. The bioship is able to shift to look like other ships, so we changed it into looking like a League’s ship and disguised ourselves as assassins and snuck on board. As we tried to find you, we bumped into Pru. After a long misunderstanding and several threats, Pru decided to help us and brought us here. We knocked out the guards who were on watch and here we are. Pru also knows where Tim is being held.”</p>
<p>Kon blinks as he tried to comprehend all that information. He can’t believe what they all went through to find them. Kon glances at M’gann and then at the assassin still standing at the door who must be Pru. “Thank you, all of you. I don’t know what to say.”</p>
<p>Bart blurs up in front of him. “You don’t have to say anything! Remember Tim is part of my team too, the fact I had helped along the way has made it all so much easier but I wouldn’t have let you guys fight this without me!”</p>
<p>“Won’t they notice that you’re gone from the infirmary?” Cassie asks him.</p>
<p>Bart shrugs. “At this point I don’t care. We’re already in trouble so what’s a little more. Plus you guys are going to be in for some serious consequences when you go back. The leaders are <em>not</em> happy.”</p>
<p>“What else is new,” Kon deadpans with an eye roll. He looks at Pru. “You know where Tim is? Can you take us there?”</p>
<p>“No.” The assassin states bluntly. She straightens up, still keeping the door open with her foot, and looks at them all. “It’s bad enough I lead them here to the two of you, it’ll be stupid to allow the five of you wonder around the corridors. I will bring Tim to you then you can head back to the Martian’s ship.”</p>
<p>Then without any warning she slips through the door, letting it slam shut behind her.</p>
<p>“Can we trust her?”</p>
<p>“She did bring us here, so possibly?”</p>
<p>“What if it’s a big trap, have us all together locked in this room?”</p>
<p>“Well we’re trapped in here so all we can do is wait and hope.”</p>
<p>After Pru left the cell they all spend time catching up. Cassie catches Bart up with what he missed after the attack from the League while Kon catches up with M’gann. They had met when they both were young as his father and her uncle worked closely together, it’s been a long time since they spoke and Kon wishes it was under different circumstances that they joined together again.</p>
<p>Eventually the cranking of the door opening could be heard again. Everyone is immediately alert and waiting for whatever is going to come through that door. Two bodies enter and they all relax when they find one to be Pru. When Kon sees the other instant relief washes over him but it’s quickly replaced with horror when everything becomes clear to see.</p>
<p>“Rao, Tim. <em>What happened to you?!” </em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just a couple things:<br/>First off WARNINGS this chapter contains descriptions of torture, injuries and violence. It's not overly graphic but is more so than previous chapters. The descriptions are scattered throughout the chapter, especially at the start so please be aware! </p>
<p>Secondly I've had a few queries about whether Damian is going to be in this story or not and I have to say at this point I'm still undecided on the matter. I don't know if I will include him or not, I may do or I may not, just to let everyone know! </p>
<p>Please enjoy the chapter! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Every time the leather rope connects with his skin a gut-wrenching scream escapes past his lips. The pain it leaves behind sets his body on fire, making every muscle recoil in tension, it becomes increasingly difficult to breathe, it’s practically impossible to focus on anything else other than the stinging sensation blossoming across his back.</p>
<p>This has been happening for quite some time now. He has no idea for how long but he just wants it to be over. No matter how much he pleads for it to stop, it never does.</p>
<p>Everything hurts. He’s been in pain before, has endured so much in the past, but none of that compares to what he’s experiencing now. There’s a very brief moment in between each strike that gives him a chance to suck in a shaky breath, however it’s shorted lived because the rope collides with his skin seconds later, making him cry out again.</p>
<p>A very distant part of his brain is thankful that the worst of the pain is centred across his back and shoulders because then at least it wasn’t somewhere like his face. In spite of those thoughts, they do nothing to help ease anything that’s actually happening in that moment.</p>
<p>The rope strikes again causing a new level of pain to blossom. He could feel the rawness of his skin, he could feel how wetness drips down his back, causing the wounds to sting more than what they already were. Whether that wetness was sweat or blood, Tim has no idea.</p>
<p>There’s several long moments and Tim just waits for the next strike to occur. When it doesn’t happen he refuses to let himself relax. The last time he relaxed his muscles when there had been an irregular pause between the strikes Tim had foolishly thought his torture was over, he was certainly proven wrong because the moment Tim let his muscles relax the strikes started back up and were relentless.</p>
<p>Even with his pain addled brain, Tim wasn’t falling for the same thing twice. The moment drags on but nothing happens. Tim could hear his raspy breaths as he struggles to get oxygen back into his body, he could feel the way his muscles were trembling with exhaustion. Much to his displeasure there wasn’t a lot he could do about it except accept it.</p>
<p>The next touch on his skin didn’t come from the leather rope like he had been expecting but rather from who had been torturing him the entire time. A hand roughly grabs his chin and yanks his head up. Tim’s barely able to open his eyes, his vision is blurred and the bright lights make his head pound but somehow he makes out the figure in front of him to be Ra’s Al Ghul.</p>
<p>“Well Timothy, it looks like this session is being cut short much to my displeasure. It is fairly fascinating to hear what kinds of sounds you make. There is some urgent business that I need to take care of. We’ll continue this soon.”</p>
<p>With no more words Ra’s drops his face and moves away from Tim. It’s only when he disappears from his sight that Tim finally lets himself relax, well as much as he could considering how much agony his muscles are currently in.</p>
<p>He becomes alert and automatically clenches his abused muscles when he detects another presence nearby. They don’t touch him, which Tim is thankful for, though he soon changes his mind when he’s suddenly colliding with the ground. He’s knocked breathless as he lands on his stomach and whimpers when pain shoots through his body, making every nerve feel like it’s on fire.</p>
<p>It takes a moment but he works out that the unknown presence had cut him down from where he had been hanging from the ceiling. The rope is still wrapped around his wrists, with his fingers clenching it as if it’s a lifeline and he feels his legs being manhandled around. They must be unlocking the chains that had strapped down his ankles.</p>
<p>There's more movement behind him and Tim finds it difficult to focus on it. He presses his head into the floor, clenching his eyes shut as the pain pulses throughout his body, it’s very distracting and makes it hard to focus on his surroundings.</p>
<p>The next thing he becomes aware of is the wind being knocked out of him for a second time. Tim lands against something solid but hardly has the energy left in him to work out what happened. The best he could do is simply lie on the ground helplessly as he tries to find the energy within himself in order to do something.</p>
<p>After taking a few deep breaths he lifts his head up off the ground and groggily looks around. It takes a lot longer than it should have but he eventually recognises the room as the cell that he’s been  recently staying in. He’s on the floor in the middle of it, in god knows what condition.</p>
<p>Once he worked out his location, Tim drops his head back down and lets his mind drift. He doesn’t have the energy to do much else and the headache raging through his skull makes it difficult to focus on anything. His body feels like it’s made of lead, he probably wouldn’t be able to move a limb no matter how hard he tries.</p>
<p>Tim’s roused from his pitiful sleep as a sharp stinging sensation spreads across his back. He lets out a hiss and tries to jerk away from it. He doesn’t want more pain. What are they doing to him now? Haven’t they done enough?</p>
<p>A heavy weight settles across his shoulders which keeps him in place along with a voice snapping at him sharply. “Don’t move.”</p>
<p>Tim stops moving, only letting out a whimper in protest. He turns his head enough to see who it is and finds the female from before who has previously patched up his wounds after Ra’s previous torture sessions.</p>
<p>“Wha – what are you doing?” He asks openly wincing as he does so, his throat feels raw and dry. When was the last time he had something to drink?</p>
<p>“You know what they say about humans? That humans are a high maintenance species.” She says conversationally, though she clearly wasn’t expecting a response from him because she continues to talk. “You really are proving those sayings correct. You’re so weak and fragile. You have no special abilities, you get wounded easily, you have to rest and sleep so often, be fed and hydrated so your bodies don’t give out.”</p>
<p>Tim feels something cold be put on his back and he flinches at the touch and then hisses when it suddenly starts stinging again. He lifts his hand to try and smack her away from him but she simply grabs his arm and forces down to the ground.</p>
<p>“Stop it. It’s an agent that’ll help with the healing. Your wounds cover majority of your back, some of the slashes have split your skin and are bleeding. I had to clean your back first before applying this, it’ll help close the wounds quicker.”</p>
<p>While he understands the reason behind the stinging, it doesn’t mean he has to like it. He grits his teeth and clenches his fists as he bares it. At least, he reasons with himself, she isn’t making it any worse</p>
<p>“He fucking whipped me.” Tim mumbles into the ground. He’s still lying on the floor while she continues treating his back.</p>
<p>“You’re fortunate that’s all you got. Being whipped like that is in fact a mild punishment, especially from the Demon’s Head.”</p>
<p>Tim frowns, he wants to question on how it could be any worse but stops himself from doing so. He doesn’t think he wants to know the answer.</p>
<p>They fall silent and Tim goes back to assessing his body. The healing cream must already be working because while his body still feels like it’s made of lead and his head is still pounding, the stinging has now dulled down leaving behind only achiness.</p>
<p>His back and shoulders, the main source of the pain, had been abused by a whip. His wrists and ankles were sore from where they had been tightly restrained by ropes and chains. His face is bruised and swollen from where he had been roughed up before the whipping. Then there’s his chest which feels tight, his lungs having overworked during the torture to help Tim breathe through it.</p>
<p>An overall summary would be is that he feels like shit.</p>
<p>He realises that he’s starting to get cold now too. He’s lying on the floor practically naked except for a pair of boxers which covers his modesty. He had been stripped down just before getting restrained and hung up for the whipping. Of course whipping bare skin had more of an effect than whipping fabric.</p>
<p>“That’s all I can do for you for now. You’re lucky he’s even letting you be treated.” She says behind him, getting his attention.</p>
<p>Tim snorts. “He doesn’t want his <em>pet</em> to too damaged then.” He sighs and looks over his shoulders as much as he could. “Thank you, I appreciate it.”</p>
<p>She stares at him for a moment and Tim can’t work out what she’s thinking through her unreadable expression. After a moment, she shakes her head and stands up. “I’ll grab you some new clothing, <em>do not</em> move around too much. I will not re-cover your wounds if you dislodge any of the bandages while I’m gone.”</p>
<p>She starts heading for the door but it’s then that Tim remembers something. “Hey, wait,” she turns around at his call, “what’s your name? You’ve treated me a few times and I don’t know what you’re called.”</p>
<p>She knocks on the cell’s door. “It’s Pru.” When the door opens up she slides out like she had never been there at all. The door slams shut and once again Tim is left alone in the silence of his cell.</p>
<p>While on his own Tim doesn’t do much. He shifts around carefully on the ground until he’s somewhat more comfortable. He did try sitting up at one point but the strain the position had put on his back had proved to be too much so Tim settled for staying in a horizontal position finding it the least painful.</p>
<p>Gradually the pain recedes from his body and Tim believes that’s the healing cream’s doing. That or he just become numb to everything. It reminds him of the time when the others had used the same thing after he had been attacked by one of those Galavent monkey things. Jesus that feels like it was such long time ago.</p>
<p>With that in mind, and with nothing else to occupy himself, Tim’s reoccurring thoughts make an appearance. How long has it been since he’s been in space? How long has it been since he was taken away from his brothers?</p>
<p>He wishes he knew but not once has he been able to keep track of any sort of time since being away from Earth. Has it been years? Months? Days? He’s terrified to find out. Tim doesn’t feel any older but that means very little. Will he ever get back to Earth and if he does return will things still be the same?</p>
<p>He just wants this nightmare to be over.</p>
<p>Tim contemplates in his thoughts for a long time, he may have also drifted off to sleep but he doesn’t know for certain. How ever long it has been, Tim’s never-ending train of thoughts finally come to an end when the door to his cell cranks open. He watches it with interest, wondering who may enter through the gap, whether that be Pru or Ra’s. It really wasn’t in question which one he hopes it would be.</p>
<p>To his delight it’s Pru who steps into his cell, however in the most unexpected way. With her back to him, Pru’s dragging something that appears to be heavy into the cell. Tim watches with disbelief as she settles it half in and half out of the door, almost like using it as a door stop. When she steps away Tim finds that it’s body. A dead body. Which is heavily bleeding from the neck and is now leaving a large size puddle of blood on the floor.</p>
<p>Instant panic washes over Tim, had he been wrong this entire time? Will she just straight up kill him? Why go through all the trouble of treating him only to off him in the end anyway?</p>
<p>As Pru steps towards him Tim couldn’t help but flinch. He has no idea what she’s up to, how can he even trust her?</p>
<p>Not noticing his reaction Pru continues forward and crouches down in front of him. It doesn’t escape Tim’s notices that her dark uniform is painted with splatters of blood, and now that she’s close enough he gets a hint of a rustic iron smell.</p>
<p>“We need to go.” She tells him with no room for questions. “Get changed and we need to leave, <em>now.</em>”</p>
<p>She dumps a bag on the floor and throws out different bits of fabric at him. Tim lets out a sigh of relief and marginally relaxes. At least she wasn’t going to kill him. Now that’s out the way, her words come to the front of his mind and the pressing way she said them.</p>
<p>“What’s going on?” Tim asks as he starts to push himself up into a sitting position. His body protests at the action but Tim forces himself through it, whatever is happening it’s big and he needs to not be any weaker than what he already is.</p>
<p>Apparently he’s taking too long to get his ass in gear because Pru huffs in annoyance and reaches forward to grab him by the under arms and jerks him upright, taking no care whatsoever. Tim lets out a hiss but it goes ignored.</p>
<p>Clearly deciding that he was no longer capable of getting himself ready Pru grabs one of the fabric pieces she threw at him and yanks it over his head and his arms through the holes. His legs get a similar experience as she forcibly dresses him in some sweatpants.</p>
<p>“Now that’s done, we have to go.” She urges him.</p>
<p>Tim watches in bafflement as she makes her way to the door, avoiding the dead body as she goes and leaves the cell.</p>
<p>“Tim!”</p>
<p>“Okay, okay,” Tim mutters to himself feeling like a child. Using the wall as a guide Tim gets himself up to his feet and begins to take unsteady steps towards the door. From where his body is still weak and recovering, his legs almost buckle underneath him but he keeps going.</p>
<p>He cautiously steps over the body holding the door open and into the corridor outside of his cell. As he leaves he’s greeted with another two lifeless bodies sprawled out on the floor, each with their throats slit and blood pooling underneath them. The sight and smell makes Tim want to gag. It’s not his first time seeing dead bodies but it doesn’t make it any easier.</p>
<p>Slightly ahead of him, Pru stands surveying the surroundings completely unperturbed by the scene. Tim staggers down the corridor towards her, precisely avoiding the blood as he goes because he’s currently bare foot and really doesn’t want it touching his skin.</p>
<p>Once he reaches her he has to stop and take a deep breath. “Wait there.” Pru orders him as she wonders back down the corridor. Tim wasn’t going anywhere, he’s already knackered and he hasn’t even gone that far yet. He watches as she moves the body that’s acting as a door stop out of the way so the door could finally shut. Once that’s done she comes back over to him.</p>
<p>“Did you kill them?” He asks breathlessly. She shoots him a look which Tim deciphers as <em>‘are you fucking stupid? </em>Unimpressed, Tim huffs, “You can’t just go around killing people!”</p>
<p>“Things die all the time. If I hadn’t of killed them they would report back to the Demon’s Head. If they’re dead they can’t talk. Simple. If anyone comes across them then they would think it was a challenge gone wrong. It really isn’t unusual to come across a dead body onboard. Now come on.”</p>
<p>With that disturbing thought, Tim stumbles along behind Pru as they make their way through the corridors of the ship. While Tim found it odd, he was grateful that they don’t come across anyone as they travel.</p>
<p>After many twists and turns Tim’s feeling even more tired than before and his body is more than ready to give out. He heaves in a deep breath and slumps against the wall. “What’s going on Pru?”</p>
<p>“We’re almost there.” The assassin replies without answering his question.</p>
<p>With great effort Tim pushes himself and continues to stumble along, using the wall for his balance. They come up to another corner and Pru waits at the edge. She holds out a finger to him and Tim gets the message, he’s more than happy to wait and catch his breath.</p>
<p>She darts around the corner and Tim listens as a shout could be heard followed by a loud gasp then a thud. It didn’t take much brain power to work out that Pru just killed someone. Tim couldn’t believe this is his life now, something that’s so inhumane becoming normal.</p>
<p>“Tim.”</p>
<p>Tim’s broken out of his thought at the sound of his name, figuring it’s safe to do so, he makes his way around the corner and isn’t surprised to see Pru standing over a dead body. As he walks towards her she opens up a door in front of her and waits for Tim to get there before ushering him inside. He’s too busy trying to avoid the blood to really pay attention to what he’s walking into.</p>
<p>“Rao, Tim.<em> What happened to you?”</em></p>
<p>Forgetting about the blood and the dead bodies, Tim’s head snaps up at the sound of that voice. He stares in disbelief when he finds a group of mostly familiar people in front of him. He blinks again, wondering if he really had lost his mind back in the cell and that he’s now hallucinating all of this up.</p>
<p>“Kon?” He questions quietly. His eyes gaze over the familiar figure before moving to the others other’s. “Cassie? Bart? What are you… how are you… <em>what?” </em></p>
<p>He looks back at Pru to find her guarding the door, keeping it open slightly with her foot but otherwise not moving.</p>
<p>Kon steps forwards, his eyes raking up and down Tim’s body obviously taking in his beaten form. He stops when he’s in front of Tim, looking at him with a mixture of concern and uncertainty.</p>
<p>Tim couldn’t believe it. How are they here? Why are they here? He’s happy to see them of course but there are so many emotions and thoughts running through his mind that he really couldn’t comprehend them all.</p>
<p>Last time he saw them, Kon had been dying from being stabbed and Bart had been unconscious. Ra’s made it clear that this team weren’t supposed to live but yet here they were. And they’ve come all this way, risking themselves even further for him. Tim’s stunned by their commitment, he really couldn’t believe it.</p>
<p>Unable to help himself, Tim lunges forward and wraps his arms around Kon’s shoulders in a hug. He’s so grateful that he’s alive. Kon seems surprised by the action and even stumbles against the additional weight but he gets his footing. After a moment he hugs Tim back, but it’s that action that has Tim hissing and arching away.</p>
<p>“Tim!”</p>
<p>Tim steps back and offers a weak smile, trying to get past the pain throbbing throughout his body. “Just a little sore Kon. It’s not exactly been a pleasant stay here.”</p>
<p>He turns towards Bart and Cassie to also greet them in a similar manner but Pru’s voice cutting through the room stops him from doing so.</p>
<p>“Yeah that’s great and all, but the happy reunion is going to have to wait. You need to get going now if you want any chance of getting off this ship alive.”</p>
<p>Right of course, despite his friends sudden appearance, they’re still aboard a ship full of assassins. Without waiting Pru leaves the room and is immediately followed by the two figures that Tim doesn’t recognise.</p>
<p>Bart grins at him, offering him a salute before reaching up to the collar of the uniform he’s wearing. Tim watches mystified by the way his face changes as it shifts to become someone else. He doesn’t recognise Bart at all, he now looks like another assassin on the ship.</p>
<p>Bart leaves the cell next and Tim slowly follows after him. His body is still sore but he thinks with the knowledge that his friends are there with him and how there’s a possible chance he could get away from this ship, he can push himself through the pain. Cassie and Kon follow behind him.</p>
<p>Pru leads the group down various of corridors. A quick chat amongst themselves informs them all that there’s a ship waiting for them, which Bart and the unknown’s arrived on, in the docking bay of the spaceship. It’s located at the far back, away from the more populated areas of the location. The assassin nods her head and tells them she can guide them all that way using the less populated corridors, therefore narrowing down the chance of being discovered.</p>
<p>Tim knows that they’ll be found at some point. It’s inevitable and it’s simply a matter of when. Hopefully they’ll safely be on the ship by the time that happens.</p>
<p>It nearly happens straight away. After turning around a corner, they bump into a cluster of assassins standing around doing who knows what when they aren’t busy killing things. Thankfully they seemed to be too shocked to even consider doing anything before Pru was there mowing them down with a sword.</p>
<p>Tim, even though he doesn’t agree with it, is used to this. If the others have opinions on the matter, they don’t voice them.</p>
<p>As they continue onwards, Tim could feel the adrenaline starting to wear off. His body was aching again and the wounds on his back are beginning to throb. He would really love to collapse down onto a bed in that moment and pass out. Just to leave everything behind and enter the land of the unconscious.</p>
<p>He knows he can’t do that, however. There’s too much at stake and he needs to keep pushing himself forwards. Tim knows he can endure a lot but how much is <em>too much?</em> When he accidently stumbles hands were there to catch him and keep him upright. He sends a worried looking Kon the best reassuring smile he could muster up, though he doesn’t think it achieves a lot because Kon only becomes looking more concerned.</p>
<p>They eventually make it to the back of the docking bay. They’re grateful to find that this section of the bay is practically empty and according to Pru, since there isn’t any operations currently running, less bodies are needed on the bay meaning it’s emptier than usual.</p>
<p>When one of the unknown’s point to a black spaceship parked off to the side, stating that’s the one, they all immediately head towards it. As they get closer to it, Tim feels a spark of hope flicker inside of him. This is what he’s been waiting for, something he’s wished for since the moment he had been captured again; an opportunity to get off this ship and away from Ra’s.</p>
<p>Unfortunately the spark is short lived and dies when two figures appear in front of the ship. Both of them wearing black League of Assassins uniforms without any masks over their heads. From what Tim could see, they were both male, one taller and broader than the other, one had short dark hair while the other had wild blonde hair.</p>
<p>For some strange reason there’s something familiar about them but Tim couldn’t place what it is. He doesn’t recognise them and knows he hasn’t met them before but there’s <em>something</em> about them. It wasn’t until shocked gasps coming from three of their group that it all clicks.</p>
<p>He was looking at twin versions of Kon and Bart.</p>
<p>Tim whips his gaze from the pair in front of him to the pair standing at his side. Bart and Kon had shocked expressions plastered on their faces as they stare at the other two. A whispered “oh no” from Cassie has him feeling like he’s missing something.</p>
<p>“Kon, Bart, do you know them?” Tim questions eventually.</p>
<p>Kon swallows thickly, his eyes flicking towards Tim then at the others again. “Something like that.”</p>
<p>Tim doesn’t get the chance to question him further because another voice cuts him off.</p>
<p>“Well this is certainly unexpected but certainly not unwelcomed.” Kon’s look alike says with a smirk.</p>
<p>“I would say it’s nice to see you again but it really isn’t.” Bart’s twin sarcastically comments afterwards. “Kon-el, Bartholomew, you have something that belongs to the Demon’s Head and he wants it back. So hand over the human and we’ll take it easy on you.”</p>
<p>Tim tenses up, unsure of what’s about to transpire. He glances at Kon to find the Kryptonian now looking furious and determined. Next to him Bart is wearing the same expression.</p>
<p>“Match, Thad, it’s been a long time.” Kon says in a strained voice.</p>
<p>“Hand over the human Kon-el. I won’t ask again.”</p>
<p>Bart speaks up before Kon could reply. “That’s not happening, Tim is coming with us.”</p>
<p>The pair in front of them share a sinister smile and drop down into defensive positions. “We were hoping you’d say that.”</p>
<p>Beside him, Kon, Cassie and Bart all get into fighting positions. With his fists raised Kon stares at them defiantly. “Don’t get so full of yourselves, you couldn’t beat us last time and this time will be no different.”</p>
<p>“Well, we’ll just see about that won’t we?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So how was that? Did I catch anyone out with the ending? </p>
<p>I hope people enjoyed this chapter, while certain parts were difficult to write it was fun, especially adding in that little twist at the end there. I'm trying to keep this story as interesting as possible and I hope it's working, a massive thank you to those who are still reading!</p>
<p>On that note, every comment and kudo is really appreciated so thank you for leaving them! :D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kon knew to expect a lot of things when facing against the League of Assassins. He knew what he was getting into when he decided to rescue Tim from the Demon’s Head and disobey orders by leaving Krypton but he never expected <em>this.</em></p>
<p>He stares at the two familiar figures in front of him. Both of which he hasn’t seen in a long time nor has even thought about.</p>
<p>Match and Thad.</p>
<p>Match is a half clone of Kon. The idea of cloning had originally been the leader’s idea, something about saving lives and helping to replicate organs. From what Kon knows, they had begun the experiment by replicating full Kryptonian’s to make sure everything could be fully functional before moving onto individual organs themselves. Kon never understood it and he never looked further into it.</p>
<p>Match was the first and last experiment Krypton conducted. Kon’s DNA had been taken and used to create Match after Kal offered it up. Kon of course was furious after he found out but once he calmed down the idea of having a sort of brother excited him. However the cloning didn’t go to plan, Match once he was created, went berserk and became unstable and to deal with it the leader’s chose to terminate him. Or at least that’s what Kon had thought.</p>
<p>Thad’s and Bart’s situation is the exact same. They used Bart’s DNA on Keystone to make Thad and it didn’t go to plan. Like Match, they thought Thad had also been terminated. Obviously not.</p>
<p>How they ended up with the League Kon has no clue but the major fact is that they are and they’re now standing in the way of the ship that’ll get them free. Next to him, Kon could hear Tim’s confusion as he questions their sudden appearance and he could feel both Bart’s and Cassie’s shock at this revelation.</p>
<p>At the sign of an oncoming fight, Kon automatically drops down into a defensive position, besides him his teammates do the same. He stares at the clones defiantly. “Don’t get so full of yourselves, you couldn’t beat us last time and this time will be no different.”</p>
<p>“Well, we’ll just see about that won’t we?”</p>
<p>Knowing what’s about to happen, Kon glances over at Tim who’s stood there wide-eyed staring at the pair opposite them. He’s seems to be shocked and unsure on what to do and Kon knows that he needs to get away as soon as possible. He’s hurt so he wouldn’t be effective in a fight and also because he’s the one they want.</p>
<p>Kon turns to look behind him where Kara and M’gann are positioned, both standing defensively waiting for the upcoming fight that’s about to happen. He shakes his head. “The both of you get Tim to the ship, we’ll take care of these two.”</p>
<p>They go to respond but Tim speaks up instead. The human turns to the assassin mixed within the group. “Pru do you have a lab on the ship, a laboratory of some kind? I have an idea.”</p>
<p>Before Kon could question what he was on about, and before he could hear Pru’s response, a shout from in front of him gets his attention. “Enough! Time to end this!”</p>
<p>From there his mind is taken off Tim because he’s suddenly dodging punches and kicks from his very own clone. He side steps and ducks various of times before starting to push back, however he finds he’s not as powerful as he should be. His punches aren’t having as big as an impact as they should each time they hit, and it’s only when a foot collides with his stomach which knocks him to the ground that he understands why.</p>
<p>Kryptonite. It’s because of the kryptonite that he had been injected with earlier, it’s still in his system and is now affecting his abilities to fight, it’s making him weaker than normal.</p>
<p>A punch to his head snaps his attention back to the moment. Match is now above him, raining down an assault of punches which Kon could barely defend himself against.</p>
<p>“We were discarded from our home!” The clone shouts at him. He grabs the front of Kon’s shirt, lifts him up from the ground only to slam him back down with a great deal of force which knocks the breath out of him. “We would have been better off being killed. But no, the <em>leader’s</em> shoved us both into a pod and shot us into space without any hesitation, with no regards to what would happen to us. We were abandoned, left to defend ourselves with no where to go!”</p>
<p>Kon tries to shove him off but without his super strength to challenge Match’s, he’s left squirming on the ground trying to gain any sort of leverage to use against him. His attempts go ignored.</p>
<p>“But then <em>he</em> found us. He realised what protentional we had and took us in, gave us training and then a purpose. He<em> saved</em> us. In return all we had to do was pledge our alliance and serve every command given. And what a ride it’s been.”</p>
<p>If he weren’t trying to break out of the hold Match has on him, Kon would be more invested in the story, however he is trying to break free and wasn’t doing very well at it. Match just seems to be putting more and more pressure on his chest which in return makes it increasingly more difficult to shake him off.</p>
<p> Then suddenly the weight disappears off him and Kon blinks to find that Cassie had tackled Match off of him. He takes a moment to breathe as he watches the two of them grapple with one another next to him. They trade blow after blow but Kon could see that he’s beginning to overpower her with each one.</p>
<p>It also hits him that Cassie is too depowered like him. The Demon’s Head had forced some kind of enchanted bracelets on her meaning she doesn’t have access to her abilities.</p>
<p>With that in mind Kon scrambles to his feet and also tackles Match back down to the ground. They wrestle for a moment but try as he might Match gets the upper hand once again ends up on top of Kon, pining him down to the floor.</p>
<p>Kon struggles underneath him and prepares himself for a punch that’s coming when Match raises his fist, however it never comes. Kon stares in bewilderment as it appears that Match is frozen above him. He could see the fear and confusion in Match’s eyes but doesn’t dwell on it, instead he takes the opportunity given and slams his own fist against the clone’s head effectively knocking him off Kon and onto the ground. Kon quickly follows through to grab his head and slam it to the ground to knock out the cloned Kryptonian. He ceases the action as soon as he feels the body go limp in hands.</p>
<p>Now Match is no longer a threat Kon’s eyes dart around looking at the scene. What he notices first is M’gann. The Martian is stood off to the side and has her back to him with a hand stretched out towards the other side of the room. His eyes drift in that direction and he sees a mirror image of what just happened with him and Match.</p>
<p>Bart had been fighting with Thad in motions that were nothing but a blur. That had been the case until Thad suddenly freezes, as if a force had suddenly grabbed hold of him and stopped him. Bart takes the opportunity to knock him out and Thad hits the ground with a heavy <em>thump</em>.</p>
<p>So the freezing had been because of M’gann, his mind rationalises. The Martian had used her telekinetic abilities to freeze their opponents providing the perfect advantage over them.</p>
<p>Kon climbs to his feet, wincing as he does so because everybody part is suddenly protesting at moving, and walks over to M’gann. He stands by her as Bart also makes his way over. “Not that your help is appreciated but what are you doing here? Where’s Tim? Why aren’t you with him?” </p>
<p>M’gann sends him a look, one that tells him she isn’t impressed with his clipped tone but she apparently lets it slide. She answers his question as she observes their surroundings. “I had been with him, however he sent me forward to prepare the ship so when he arrives we can immediately leave. He has a plan and Kara is currently with him. The human was on about making explosions before we leave.”</p>
<p>Kon blinks at her wondering if he heard her right. Perhaps Match had knocked him harder in the head than he thought. Did she just say Tim was planning on making explosions?</p>
<p>“Why didn’t you take him to the ship!” Kon exclaims. It was a simple enough task so why didn’t it happen?</p>
<p>M’gann doesn’t provide him with an answer, instead she glares at him before walking away towards one of the ships parked nearby. Deciding not to engage further with the Martian Kon turns to his team instead, checking them over and seeing if they’re alright.</p>
<p>Bart’s staring at Thad’s unconscious body as he speaks up. “What should we do with them? Leave them behind or take them with us?”</p>
<p>Kon’s instinctive response is to say that they should take the clones with them but he stops himself from voicing that opinion. What should they do? Recalling what Match had told him during their scuffle, the leaders clearly didn’t want them around. Could there be a way to compromise? As much as there is bad history between them, Kon doesn’t think being with the League of Assassin’s is anything good. Anywhere but here would be better despite what’s happened in the past.</p>
<p>He sighs and looks over at the unconscious bodies and the ship M’gann went to. “We’ll take them with us. We can deal with them properly on Krypton, anywhere other than here is better. We’ll keep them restrained until we return to the planet.”</p>
<p>Cassie and Bart both wordlessly nod at that. While they don’t voice any protest against the idea, Kon doesn’t know if they actually agree with it or not.</p>
<p>He makes a move towards Match’s body when Cassie speaks up, but not about the clones. “Kon we need to get our remotes, that’s if the Demon’s Head hasn’t already found them.” Letting out a curse Kon turns back around to face his teammate. He had completely forgotten about those. “We can’t risk leaving them behind.”</p>
<p>“I know,” Kon says thinking through ways they could try and find the remotes to get them back. It’s a long shot that they haven’t been found yet but they can’t leave them here. After a moment of thinking Kon gets an idea and turns to Bart. “Bart, can you search through the ships for our translator remotes and Tim’s too? You can use your speed to whip through different ones.”</p>
<p>Bart eyes widen before they narrow. The Speedster crosses his arms over his chest and scowls. “There are thousands of ships here Kon, how am I supposed to search through all of them? And without getting caught? I’m fast, but I’m not fast.”</p>
<p>Cassie responds to him before Kon gets too. “I know the rough location of the ship that we arrived on. Unlike Kon, I was partially awake when we arrived. If I give you an area do you think you can search there? I also remember where I hid the remotes to begin with.”</p>
<p>Bart’s glares softens at Cassie’s suggestion. A moment later he nods and listens closely as she describes the location of where the ship is parked. Then without any warnings he’s disappears in a blink of an eye.</p>
<p>Knowing that there isn’t a lot else he can do, Kon continues to move towards Match’s body. He picks his clone up off the floor and carries him over his shoulder’s, making sure he has a tight grip on him. He grits his teeth at the additional weight, normally he wouldn’t have any trouble but since he’s without his super strength it’s a little harder than usual.</p>
<p>Once he’s stable, Kon turns and heads for the same ship M’gann had disappeared too earlier. He has to admit, while her appearance was certainly unexpected it’s extremely appreciated because she really has helped them out so much since being involved.</p>
<p>As he gets closer to the ship he inspects it. It looks like all of the other ones surrounding them, black, smooth curved edges with hidden latches on the side. If Kon didn’t know better he would have assumed this is simply another one of the League’s ship, however he <em>does</em> know better and is informed that this is M’gann’s bioship.</p>
<p>It’s currently disguised to appear as one of the League’s ships. Just like the Martian is able to, the ship can shapeshift. This also contributes as another reason to why having her here is appreciated.</p>
<p>When Kon reaches the ramp a loud rumble could be heard throughout the docking bay. The sound is quickly followed by sudden shaking that unbalances him and with the additional weight he’s carrying Kon couldn’t keep his balance and falls to the floor, landing in a heap underneath Match’s unconscious body.   </p>
<p>Kon grunts and pushes Match off of him and frantically looks around until he sees Cassie who is also on the floor underneath Thad’s body.</p>
<p>“Cassie?”</p>
<p>She looks up at him, her eyes wide in question. “Kon what’s going on? What’s happening? We need to get out of here!”</p>
<p>A second rumble sounds out which is followed by more shaking. Moments later alarms begin to blare out around them and flashing red lights appear. Something major is happening, whatever those rumbles are, they’re causing the ships warning systems to go off like they’re about to prepare for battle.</p>
<p>“That’s Tim!” M’gann’s unexpected exclamation makes Kon look up at the ramp where she’s stood. “He’s creating miniature explosions to go off around the ship as he and the others work their way back here. Now get inside the ship so we can go once they arrive!”</p>
<p>“Creating what?” Kon asks completely bewildered. How is he creating explosions inside a ship full of assassins? Could that be where he disappeared off to earlier?</p>
<p>Knowing he isn’t going to get answer by thinking about it, Kon shoves it out of his mind for the time being, he’ll have to question Tim when he sees him. For now he climbs back up to his feet, having to steady himself when a third explosion happens, and lifts Match’s body over his shoulders. With great effort he carries the clone onto the ship. Cassie isn’t too far behind him carrying Thad.</p>
<p>It’s once they deposit the clones down in a cornered off cell on the ship that Bart makes a reappearance. He blurs to a stop in front of them within the cockpit looking frantic and confused. “What is going on? There is suddenly shaking happening and then alarms are blearing, I thought youmayhavealreadyleftorbeencaught!” His eyes flicker between him and Cassie as he rapidly speaks but he doesn’t let them answer before he’s talking again. “Anyway that doesn’t matter. I managed to find all the remotes! They were right where you said they were Cassie!”</p>
<p>Bart triumphally holds out three translator remotes. Kon lets out a relived sigh at the sight of them. At least that’s one less thing to worry about. In the back of his mind he knows that there’s a feeling of wrongness about the situation because the Demon’s Head surely would have found them, but Kon’s willing to overlook that feeling and take it as a win. Hopefully it doesn’t come to bite him in the ass later on.</p>
<p>“The ship is ready take off. All we’re waiting for now is the others to get back here.” M’gann reports to them from her position at the control panel. Kon nods his acknowledgement and looks out of the view screen, trying to get any glimpse of the human.</p>
<p>The alarms are still blearing throughout the docking bay and it’s making Kon nervous, he really hopes Tim hasn’t gone and got himself re-captured. He knows Kara and Pru are with him but anything could happen and until Kon sees Tim himself, he isn’t going to be able to relax.</p>
<p>A few more tense moments go by without any signs of them appearing. Next to him Cassie makes a comment on how she’s surprised that they themselves haven’t been found by any other assassins yet. Her comment is countered by Bart saying how the assassins are now running around trying to restore the damage that the explosions have caused, it’s leaving them distracted.</p>
<p>Now Kon’s thinking about it, that was probably Tim’s plan all along. Create a distraction so they could have a higher chance to escape without being noticed. It’s both smart and stupid. He still needs to question Tim on what he was thinking about the whole ordeal.</p>
<p>“They’re here!”</p>
<p>Kon’s brought out of his thoughts by Cassie’s shout. He focuses back on the window to see three figures running towards their ship. Kon’s heart skips a beat when he spots more figures, a group of assassins, not far behind them.</p>
<p>He watches helplessly as the assassins start gaining on his friends. If he had his powers he would be able to help them out, unfortunately that’s not the case at the moment and he would probably only cause more problems instead of helping them.</p>
<p>While running Tim trips over his feet and is saved from falling on his face when Kara manages to grab hold of his arm to keep him up right. An exchange happens between his cousin and the human before Pru gets involved by shouting something at them. In the end Kara simply picks Tim up and carries him the rest of the way to the ship while Pru hangs back and slays down the advancing group of assassins.</p>
<p>Kara runs up the ramp and into the ship with Pru following behind her moments later. Once they’re both on board M’gann wastes no time in getting them up in the air to make their escape.</p>
<p>It becomes absolute chaos.</p>
<p>From the moment they leave the docking bay everything becomes hectic and it’s unclear to exactly what is going on. The ship violently rocks side to side as M’gann navigates her way through the League of Assassin’s ship as she tries to find an exit point.</p>
<p>Despite how big the docking bay is, it seems to be impossible to dodge everything inside. They collide with other vessels, bounce off the walls and there’s a constant shaking to the craft like they’re being fired at by various of weapons.</p>
<p>“I’m going to have to crash through other ships to make it out!” M’gann informs them with a strained voice. Kon could see the toll it’s taking on her to keeping her ship somewhat under control through this turmoil.</p>
<p>“Do what you must!” Cassie shouts back. She’s currently pressed against the wall to help stabilize herself so she isn’t being flung around the place.</p>
<p>“Hold on!”</p>
<p>At the Martian’s shout Kon grabs onto the closest thing which happens to be a chair and does exactly that.</p>
<p>M’gann jerks the ship to the side, forcing it downwards towards an open hatch where a space pod had just entered the docking bay. With no hesitation, M’gann lets the bioship collide with it which nearly causes them to go off track but she determinedly keeps going. The rebound is brutal when they hit the pod and then bounce off the side of the hatch but soon enough they end up out of the docking bay and into the void of space.</p>
<p>M’gann doesn’t stop for a second because once they’re in space she’s pressing different controls on the dashboard and starts expertly flying them away as fast as she could.</p>
<p>It becomes a smoother ride now they’re flying through space, while the ship occasionally jerks and shakes, it’s certainly a lot better than before. At least with the situation now, they can stand up on their own and not worry about being thrown around.</p>
<p>“We’re not safe yet, I’m going to get us some distance away, make sure we’re not being followed and only then can we relax.” The Martian tells them as she continues to steer the bioship through the universe.</p>
<p>Kon nods, trusting her to get them through this. She’s already got them off the base ship, he’s sure she can get them away from anything that may chase after them.</p>
<p>“Kon!”</p>
<p>The shout of his name gets his attention and he looks around the cockpit to see who had called him, but when Cassie and Bart shake their heads he realises the shout came from outside of the room. He frowns for a moment before his mind catches up and he remembers the others who are aboard the ship with them.</p>
<p>Kon immediately darts out of the room and heads towards the lower deck of the bioship, that’s where he finds the three others on the floor. Tim is propped up against the wall, his head falling down to his chest before it jerks back up again and he seems to be attempting to wave off the other two hovering at his sides.</p>
<p>Kara and Pru are crouched at his sides speaking to him but Tim is either not paying attention to them or isn’t comprehending anything they’re saying. Maybe both.</p>
<p>Kon moves over and crouches down at the end of Tim’s feet. “What’s going on? Tim you okay?”</p>
<p>Tim blinks at him for a long moment and just as Kon’s about to ask the question again Tim frowns and suddenly looks confused. “Kon? Is that you, how are you here? Did they capture you too? I’m so sorry, all of this is my fault, I didn’t want this to happen.”</p>
<p>The way his voice sounds shaky and the way his words slur together has Kon on the edge of panicking but it’s his choice of words that really have him worried. Does Tim not remember anything that’s just happened? Surely he can recall them escaping the ship and then doing whatever he did to create the explosions.</p>
<p>“I’m tired.” Tim states blatantly, blinking slowly as his head drops to his chest again. When he jerks it back up he mumbles, “and my back hurts. Why does everything hurt?”</p>
<p>Kon looks helplessly at the other two who seem to be just as confused as he is. He has no idea on what to do right now or what it is that Tim needs.  </p>
<p>“Just go to sleep.” Pru tells him almost forcefully. Tim’s eyes flicker to her and he frowns. Pru rolls her eyes, “when you wake up everything will be better.”</p>
<p>Tim’s gaze turns back to Kon. ”Are we safe? Can I go to sleep?”</p>
<p>Kon forces himself to smile, he reaches out and pats Tim’s leg in a comforting manor. “Yeah, it’s okay to sleep Tim. You’re safe.”</p>
<p>Of course Kon cannot yet guarantee that and he has no clue if sleeping is the best option for Tim but he doesn’t see any other option and at least if Tim is asleep he isn’t feeling any pain. Kon watches as Tim’s eyes close, his head drops and this time doesn’t come back up, then just like that he’s asleep.</p>
<p>The three of them watch the human for a moment until Pru breaks the silence. She glances at Tim before looking at him and Kara. “His wounds on his back will have to be checked. They hadn’t healed when you arrived and with everything’s that’s just occurred, they may have re-opened. That’s probably what’s causing him pain.”</p>
<p>Kon nods in understanding, hating the fact that Tim is wounded and in pain. He hates everything that the human has been forced to endure recently.</p>
<p>“Right, we’ll find a place to lay him down and then you can treat him if you don’t mind. I’m sure M’gann has everything you need somewhere.”</p>
<p>Kara picks Tim up off the floor, taking caution to be careful, and then they find a place to lay him down. After some direction they find what they need to treat Tim and Kon leaves Pru to attend to him, though he asks Cassie to assist her. While Pru has been a massive help and has had a massive role to play in their escape, she’s still an assassin and Kon feels a bit more comfortable with someone from his team sat by Tim’s side while she treats him.</p>
<p>With Tim now being looked after, Kon returns back to the cockpit and stands by M’gann who is still steering the ship through space, creating a larger gap between them and the League of Assassins.</p>
<p>“Are we in the all clear yet?” He questions her.</p>
<p>She shakes her head in denial. “No. Not yet. While nothing has appeared on my radar I’m not taking any chances.”</p>
<p>“Very well, I trust your judgement. When you think the time is right, set course for Krypton. The sooner we get back the better, they won’t attack us when we’re there.”</p>
<p>She simply nods and goes back to focusing on flying. Kon leaves her to it, he drifts over to where the others have gathered at the back of the cockpit. He stands by while they catch up and talk about different topics, Kon lets their voices wash over him as he reflects on everything that’s recently happened and as he begins to think about what he has yet to face in the near future.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Everything is a blur when Tim wakes up the first time. He couldn’t figure out what’s going on around him. There were bright lights blinding him from above, blurry figures coming in and out of his vision and muffled sounds surrounding him, they may be voices but Tim couldn’t understand them.</p>
<p>While most of his senses were overwhelmed, physically he felt awful. His body hurt. Any small movement made his muscles twinge in pain and that made it difficult to focus on anything else.</p>
<p>He tried to push past the pain and attempted to lift an arm, he tried to speak up or even lift his head up, but no part of his body seemed to be cooperating with him no matter how hard he tried. In the end it was easy to give up and to simply lie there, allowing whatever was happening to happen. It’s only accidental that his mind wonders off and he drifts back into unconsciousness.</p>
<p>The second time waking up happened to be much like the first time, not that Tim could recall the previous time and compare them.</p>
<p>The second time things were still unclear but Tim was a little more with it. His vision was still blurred, the lights above irritating his eyes as he tried to blink away the blurriness. Sounds around him were also more intelligible, this time he could tell they were voices however he couldn’t make out what was being said.</p>
<p>The main difference between the two was that Tim hadn’t woken up in as much pain as he did last time. The second time he woke up with his body feeling achier more than anything else. It still happened to be difficult to move his limbs because they felt like lead, but any small movement he made didn’t cause him pain.</p>
<p>Despite all that, he ended up drifting off to sleep again in a matter of minutes.</p>
<p>The third time he woke up he’s certainly more coherent. When he opens his eyes the lights blind him once again but after several blinks his eyes adjust and his sight clears allowing him to see the plain white ceiling far above him.</p>
<p>The next thing Tim does is shift about and test his body. It felt sore and achy. He could at least move his limbs now, as jerky as his movements are he’s pleased to find all of his limbs are still attached and seem to be functioning as they should be.</p>
<p>Tim takes a deep breath and tries to work out what happened that lead him to this point. Different things flash through his mind but he has no idea what’s real and what isn’t. Did he get away from Ra’s in the end? Did Kon and the team come and rescue him? Or is his mind making things up, his subconscious trying to make the shitty situation better by giving him false hope?</p>
<p>Tim does his best to not panic because there’s so much information he’s currently missing. On the other hand, what he knows for certain is that his current location isn’t somewhere he recognises. Perhaps he should be more concerned by this but at this point waking up somewhere new isn’t that much out of the ordinary anymore. Plus everything with his body (except his mind apparently) is working so it can’t mean he’s dead or gravely injured.</p>
<p>Deciding that he needs to try and find out more Tim starts shifting about, trying to get leverage to prop himself up. With struggle he’s able to get himself up onto his elbows and up enough so he could look around at his surroundings.</p>
<p>This is when Tim realises he’s on a bed, lying on some kind of soft mattress with a fluffy pillow underneath his head and a light blanket covering his lower half. He’s dressed in a light white t-shirt and blue cotton trousers.</p>
<p>Moving his attention away from himself Tim glances around the room. It looks like he’s in some kind of hospital. There are multiple beds in front of him against the wall all evenly spaced out. The side he’s on is the exact same. There are a few different machines surrounding his bed and Tim realises that there are a couple different wires and tubes attached to him.</p>
<p>His first instinct upon seeing that is to yank them away but he stops himself from doing so, who knows what they’re doing. They could be keeping him alive for all he knows, if Tim yanks them away he may die within seconds.</p>
<p>Just as he’s about to try and push himself up right even more, voices catch his attention. Tim looks to the right and down where the door to the hospital room is located. The voices grow in volume and soon enough two figures enter the room.</p>
<p>Tim watches them wearily. They’re two females, one of which is green with red hair while the other is fair skinned with blonde hair. Well, he’s assuming they’re females by the look of their figures but he could be wrong. Tim couldn’t put his finger on it but they seem familiar, he’s not sure if he’s met them before or it’s a sense of déjà vu.</p>
<p>The two females cease their conversation when they notice him propped up looking at them. They silently walk over to his bed, both of them taking one side and settling down in a couple chairs there. Tim continues watching them, feeling slightly cautious and anxious, he’s unsure on what they want.</p>
<p>“How are you feeling?” The blonde one asks him, looking him up and down as if inspecting him. Does she have some kind of weird superpowers too?</p>
<p>“Uh…” Tim sounds out, hearing how his voice is croaky Tim clears his throat and winces as he does because of the dryness he feels there. “I’m good thanks.” He tells her in the end.</p>
<p>The blonde hums while the red head stays silent. Tim glances at them and away again, suddenly feeling very awkward. Why did they come here? Where is here exactly? That’s something Tim still hasn’t worked out.</p>
<p>He has no idea on what to say or do to break the thick tension that’s filled the air. After several moments of this, just as it’s about to become too much, the red head finally breaks it.</p>
<p>She’s staring at Tim like she’s looking at a complicated puzzle. Tim really doesn’t appreciate the scrutiny.</p>
<p>“You’re anxious.”</p>
<p>Tim blinks at her, completely caught off guard with the statement. Out of all the things she could have said, that wasn’t even close to what Tim would have imagined being voiced. However it does the trick, it breaks ice and gets him speaking up about the things on his mind from the moment he woke up.</p>
<p>“Yeah I am actually.” He declares profoundly. “Because you want to know why? It’s <em>because</em> I am somewhere I don’t know. I have no idea who you two are or what you want. I can’t remember anything that’s recently happened as my brain is a mess. Am I still with Ra’s? Is this a mind game? Or did I actually get rescued by Kon, Bart and Cassie? The last thing I think I can remember is pain. Probably from being tortured? It all kind of blurs after that. I have absolutely no idea on what to think at this point.”</p>
<p>Tim takes a breath after he finishes rambling. Finding that he’s exerted himself, he flops back down onto the bed and covers his face with his hands, letting out a defeated groan as he does. The two females at his bedside say nothing while he lays there.</p>
<p>“Well we can fill in some gaps for you if you would like us too.”</p>
<p>“You’re safe here. We’re on Krypton now, currently in the infirmary. You were badly wounded.”</p>
<p>Tim removes his hands and glances at them, he has no idea if they’re lying or not. Tim figures the least he could do is listen to them, if they can fill in what he’s missing then that would be a massive relief.</p>
<p>Pushing himself back up onto his elbows he nods. “Can you tell me please? Everything’s a little blurry.”</p>
<p>The red head nods while the blonde stands up and grabs something from the side. It looks like a little remote and after pressing a button on it the bed begins to move. The mattress is rises into an incline position and once it stops moving Tim lets himself relax against it, finding the position more comfortable than before.</p>
<p>“To begin with I’m Kara and that’s M’gann,” the blonde introduces them to him, “we were part of the team that rescued you from the League of Assassins.”</p>
<p>Tim nods his acknowledgement and stays silent. He’s going to assume they know who he is. It also now makes more sense on why they seem familiar. He has met them before, even if he can’t fully remember the experience of doing so.</p>
<p>Kara tells him their side of the story. She summarises how Bart had woken up from his coma, bumped into her and then M’gann. The three of them decided to leave Krypton together in search for Kon and Cassie who had left a note to Bart while he had been unconscious which explained their plan to rescue Tim.</p>
<p>They tracked their location using M’gann’s ship and got onto the League of Assassins base ship, they then bumped into Pru and after a few misunderstandings Pru decided to help them. Pru ended up showing the three of them where Kon and Cassie were being held in a cell because they had been captured. After that Pru went and collected Tim, who had been in terrible shape, and then they all made their way off the base ship in M’gann’s bio ship.</p>
<p>While escaping the assassins Tim had passed out and Pru treated him the best she could on the ship by re-bandaging his wounds. Some time later they made it to Krypton without being caught. Once on the planet Tim had been admitted to the infirmary where his wounds were treated properly.  </p>
<p>“You woke up a few times but were extremely confused with what was going on and then you passed out again. This is the first time you’ve been awake and coherent since we’ve arrived back.” Kara finishes off casually.</p>
<p>Tim blinks at her for a long time, trying to digest everything that she had told him. It’s certainly more than he had been expecting. While her explanation does give him some answers he had been after, it also creates some new ones.</p>
<p>After taking a deep breath he glances at the two beside him. “How long have I been here? In the infirmary I mean.”</p>
<p>Kara and M’gann share a look before turning to him again. “Several days now. Do humans normally sleep so much?” Kara gives him a curious look. It’s an expression he recognises well because the others often wore it when they first met and as they learned more about him.</p>
<p>Before he could respond to the blonde M’gann pipes up. “You were badly wounded and your body was exhausted. The Kryptonian’s treated you the best they could and also used a healing agent to help the accelerate your recovery.”</p>
<p>That would explain why he wasn’t in as much pain as before. His body still hurt of course and is feeling particularly achy but it didn’t feel like it was going to give out at any second.</p>
<p>With that answered he moves onto his next thought. “Where are the others?”</p>
<p>At this question, Tim easily picks up on their reluctance to give him an answer. They share a look before turning back to him but neither of them say anything. Their silence only makes Tim want an answer more and it’s putting him on edge with panic and concern the longer they stay quiet.</p>
<p>“Where are they? They’re okay right?”</p>
<p>“They’re fine!” Kara quickly says watching him with wide eyes. “They’re all fine, it’s just a complicated situation they’re in that’s all. Pru’s fine too.”</p>
<p>Tim frowns, “Complicated? What the hell does that mean?”</p>
<p>“They’re in a lot of trouble Tim. They broke rules, disobeyed orders, kept important information away from the leaders. All three of them are going to be facing some serious consequences because of their actions.”</p>
<p>A sudden wave of guilt hits Tim. The others are all in trouble because of him. They went out of their way to help him, to protect and look after him and because of that they’re in trouble with their leaders.</p>
<p>At the very start while Bart and Kon had easily accepted him onboard, Cassie seemed more reluctant to do so and seemed cold towards him sometimes. Now reflecting on it, perhaps her actions are validated. She probably knew he was trouble from the moment they met but allowed it all to happen anyway. Kon and Bart never seemed too bothered by it.</p>
<p>“Take me to them.” He demands of the girls.</p>
<p>Immediately Kara is shaking her head in denial. “We can’t Tim. They’re currently in the office now with Kal, talking over everything that’s happened.”</p>
<p>He doesn’t know why the urge is so strong but all he can think about is the three aliens that have saved his life numerous of times and how they are now being chewed out for it.</p>
<p>Tim sends Kara a glare. “I don’t care. Look take me yourselves or I’ll find my own way there.” He starts shifting on the mattress, making a move to get up off it when both of girls jump out of their seats with their hands held out to stop him.</p>
<p>“We can’t.”</p>
<p>“You <em>can</em>.”</p>
<p>The three of them have a stare off and despite the hard looks being sent his way, Tim doesn’t back down. He gives them one just as hard back in return. He doesn’t know what does it, but in the end the girls submit and accept that he isn’t changing his mind. They help him out of bed, find him some shoes and start walking him to the main office.</p>
<p>Tim’s mind is rather occupied to take in his surroundings as they walk through various of corridors of a building they’re in. He doesn’t take much notice in the different rooms they pass, or the various of beings they pass by who shoot curious looks his way.</p>
<p>The three of them are silent the whole way there and once they reach some large double doors M’gann says her farewell and leaves him and Kara at the doors. From inside Tim could hear a deep booming voice shouting and he could guess that the angry shouting is being aimed at his friends.</p>
<p>Ignoring Kara’s last attempt to change his mind Tim pushes open the doors without knocking and enters the room. Tim doesn’t know what he had been mentally preparing for when he bursts into the room, the scene that greets him is his friends all sat down on chairs in front of a desk where a large board shouldered man stood behind it.</p>
<p>The unknown man, Tim picks up that he kind of looks like an older version on Kon, is halfway through a sentence and when Tim storms in he abruptly stops talking. Simultaneously his friends all turn around to see what had stopped the man from shouting and then three identical looks of shock and horror cross their faces.</p>
<p>Now he’s entered the room, Tim falters. He’s come in here with no kind of plan on what he’s going to say to try and defend his friends and himself. Maybe Kara had been right after all.</p>
<p>In the end his hesitation at the door doesn’t matter because Kara is right there beside him, her hand wrapping around his arm and starting to tug him back towards the door they had just come through.</p>
<p>“Apologies Kal, I did try to stop him from coming here.” Kara says sincerely with a hint of embarrassment in her tone. “We’ll be on our way.”</p>
<p>“Kara.”</p>
<p>At the call of her name the two of them stop, while the female Kryptonian doesn’t let him go they both turn back around to face the others. The man up front is watching them through narrowed eyes and Tim has no idea on what to think. He really should have thought of something before barging in like this, now he just looks stupid.</p>
<p>“Since the human is awake, it may be worth hearing to what he has to say.” He says in a deep low voice. The tone wasn’t the one he had used when he had been shouting moments ago, this time it’s calm and controlled.</p>
<p>It’s eerily calm and it sets Tim on edge immediately. It reminds him of when Bruce is becomes so angry that he’s scarily calm. Sometimes that calmness is worse than the shouting.</p>
<p>Tim shares a wide-eyed look with Kara who glances between the two of them and then let’s go of his arm. Taking initiative Tim walks further into the room and stands behind his friends, however before he can say anything Kon is jumping up to his feet and protesting.</p>
<p>“Kal this is ridiculous! Tim doesn’t need to get involved, leave him out of this.”</p>
<p>“Sit down Kon-el and not another word.” The command is said in such an aggressive dominating way that there is no way to disobey. For what he thinks is the first time, Tim sees Kon speechless, his friend instantly shuts his mouth and sits back down, but not without glaring.</p>
<p>Once Kon is sat the man’s attention comes back onto Tim. His gaze is heavy and almost feels like it’s penetrating him. Tim does his best to get past the nerves that have built up and face the man head on, he takes a deep breath before saying anything.</p>
<p>“I know as a leader, you’re frustrated at what has transpired recently. They have disrespected you and have disobeyed orders, but by doing so they saved my life. Numerous of times in fact. I am so grateful for what they have done for me from the moment we met.</p>
<p>They didn’t have to help me, they could have easily ignored me and carried on with their jobs but chose not to despite the consequences they would face. They took me on board their ship to look after and help me.</p>
<p>I was taken away from my home without a choice. I never asked for any of this to happen. I have been beaten, tortured, scared, so clueless and completely out of my depth since then. The three in front of you helped to save my life and give me some form of safety.”</p>
<p>Tim swallows and takes a moment to pause to think about what to say next. He’s not entirely sure on how to word what he should, but he means every word that he’s already said.</p>
<p>The man, Kal is it, spoke before he could continue. “One life isn’t worth millions and the threat of war. Not only did they fail to report they found you but they disobeyed orders and ran after you onto the League of Assassins base ship, where they got confronted by Ra’s Al Ghul himself. In the process of that they got others involved, got compromised and then brought back an assassin and two others that were long ago exiled.</p>
<p>You have caused nothing but trouble from the moment you appeared on the radar.”</p>
<p>Tim grits his teeth to stop himself from retaliating at the words. He may not be from around here but this is still clearly an unfair situation.</p>
<p>“Sir, with all due respect, this is a completely unfair situation. Yes they shouldn’t have disobeyed orders, but they were being the good people they are and helping to save a life because they could.</p>
<p>As for the war, I don’t believe that Ra’s endgame. As it’s been pointed out before the alliance between you and the others equal, if not surpass, what the League have. I don’t think you’ll have to worry about a war, Ra’s knows not to attack you head on.”</p>
<p>“That’s a bold statement for you to say.” Kal comments looking at him like he’s now intrigued with Tim. Tim could see anger still there but it’s not as prominent as before, Tim’s going to believe that’s a good thing for now.</p>
<p>“I’m just saying what I believe. From what I can gather Ra’s took me because he happened to be ‘interested’ in me. To begin with I was a slave, being used and beaten, it was like I was an experiment, a new toy they could play with. But things changed and then I practically became a personal assistant for the bastard.</p>
<p>Through luck I managed to escape. That’s what Ra’s is pissed at. A little ole human being able to escape the grasp of the League of Assassin’s. The three in front of you found me on an abandoned planet afterwards and from then got mixed up in all of this which I apologize for.</p>
<p>As for a war, I can’t exactly tell you if he is planning an attack or not. The person you may want to talk to about that is Pru, I’ve heard she’s around. She sacrificed everything to get me, and them, off the base ship. She may be willing to share vital information.</p>
<p>As for me, I just want to go home. I never asked for this.”</p>
<p>Silence fills the room after Tim finishes talking. Everyone is currently staring at him and Tim does his best to not fidget under the attention. He’s not sure if he’s said the right things, all he’s trying to do is clear his name and the others.</p>
<p>Then again they did disobey orders and unfortunately there’s nothing Tim can do to change that fact.</p>
<p>Kal doesn’t stop looking at him. His eyes bore into Tim like he’s trying to see Tim’s memories so he would be able to tell if Tim is telling the truth or not. Wait, can Kryptonian’s see memories or read minds? Tim’s pretty sure Kon didn’t mention those when he told Tim about the abilities that Kryptonian’s have…</p>
<p>Tim’s thoughts are cut off when Kal finally speaks up. His gaze moves around the room before it falls back onto Tim.</p>
<p>“It doesn’t change that they ignored orders and went on an unsanctioned mission which could have easily gone very wrong. The five of them will be punished, some more than others. The other leaders and I need to have a discussion on what the punishments will be and the severity of them.</p>
<p>Moving forward, we will also be keeping a close eye on Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Assassins after all of this. We need to try and keep updated with his movements.”</p>
<p>For the first time since Tim entered the room, Bart speaks up from his chair. The Speedster is currently vibrating on the spot, it’s like it’s taking all of his restraint to remained seated and to not speed off.</p>
<p>“What does that mean for Tim though? Will he be able to go home?”</p>
<p>Kal finally sits down in the seat behind the desk he’s been standing at. He’s no longer the angry person Tim had walked in on, he’s become more resigned and patient, as if hearing Tim talk has allowed him to let go some of the anger he had been holding on to.</p>
<p>“The human’s – Tim’s – situation will have to be discussed with the other leaders of Krypton and even those across Keystone and Themyscira as all of you have been involved. This impacts more than just Tim and you three and that needs to be taken into consideration.</p>
<p>For now Tim will remain on Krypton until further notice. This will also keep him away from the League for the moment. The rest of you will also remain here until told otherwise and the news of your punishment will come once it has been discussed.”</p>
<p>While that’s not exactly what he had been hoping for, Tim couldn’t really complain. At least the older Kryptonian isn’t kicking him off the planet and leaving him for dead somewhere or worse, handing him back over to the League. As well as him staying on the planet he’ll still be around the others, so there’s that.</p>
<p>“You’ll be contacted when a decision has been made.” Kal continues to talk, looking at the each of them. His gaze lands on Kara for a moment longer before he looks at the rest of them again. “Kara I want to talk to you. The rest of you are dismissed.”</p>
<p>Not finding any other reason to stay they all, besides Kara, exit the office room and pile into the corridor. As soon as the doors close his friends immediately turn to him.</p>
<p>“What was all that about Tim?”</p>
<p>“Why would you do that!”</p>
<p>“I can’t believe you stood up to Kal like that!”</p>
<p>Tim blinks and shakes his head, trying to make sense of the different comments being rapidly fired his way. In the end he’s only able to make out a couple of comments and puts his hands up to try and stop the bombardment that’s happening.</p>
<p>“Guys. Guys! I can’t understand you if you’re all shouting at me!” He sends each of them a glare to shut them up. It does the trick because a moment later they quieten down and look guilty at their outbursts.</p>
<p>Before Tim could say any more, Cassie speaks up again but addresses the whole group instead. “Why don’t we go elsewhere to have this conversation. We’re all still recovering, so let’s get comfortable first.”</p>
<p>At the mention of recovery, Tim’s attention is brought to the achiness thrumming through his body. He’s certainly better than he had previously been, whatever they used to help him recover faster is certainly doing its job however Cassie’s suggestion to rest somewhere is a good one because Tim could feel the weight of his body starting to wear him down.</p>
<p>“Let’s go to my room, it’s the biggest one we have and is private. I doubt we’ll be allowed anywhere near our ship any time soon.” Kon says looking at them all. His gaze lingers on Tim slightly longer than the rest but be turns away without a comment.</p>
<p>The four of the make their way to Kon’s room in silence. Tim trails behind them, moving a little slower because of his recovery and because he doesn’t have their super stamina or whatever it is.</p>
<p>They pass through many corridors and many rooms on the way there. If Tim had been feeling more alert he would have definitely taken an interest in what they’re passing by, but at that moment he simply didn’t have enough energy to care. He just wants to sit down, get this conversation looming over their heads out of the way and go to sleep.</p>
<p>When Kon finally stops at a door, Tim is relieved to find that they’ve arrived at the Kryptonian’s room. Kon allows them inside and follows in behind them. It’s a simple square room which holds the basic necessities, a bed tucked into a corner, some draws, a desk, a chair and a wardrobe. There’s a small window in the middle of the wall above the bed which is allowing light to stream into the room.</p>
<p>Without prompting, Tim makes his way over to the bed and collapses on it. A moment later he forces himself to move into a sitting position and leans again the wall as the others settle around him. Bart takes the desk chair and immediately starts spinning in circles on it, Cassie sits beside him on the bed and leans against the headboard while Kon stays standing and rests against the wardrobe facing them.</p>
<p>“So first off, how are you Tim? How are you feeling?” Cassie asks looking him over.</p>
<p>In response Tim shrugs. “Okay as can be I guess. I ache all over but I am much better than before. M’gann and Kara described to me what happened on the ship when you all came to get me. My mind is a little blurry from that.”</p>
<p>Kon makes a snorting like sound. “You were out of it alright. I don’t think we’ve ever actually seen you look that bad. You were also completely out of it when we arrived on Krypton. Every time the medics tried to help you, you kept swatting them away and complaining until you fell unconscious again.”</p>
<p>Tim doesn’t know what to say to that so he opts for staying silent, though he’s mentally thanking god that he can’t remember it because it sounds too embarrassing.</p>
<p>“Why did you all come after me on the ship? Not that I don’t appreciate it because I really, really, do but if it was going to get you into this much trouble then why do it?” Tim asks them openly.</p>
<p>They don’t owe him anything so why would they all disobey orders like they have and risk their lives in an attempt to save his? He wasn’t worth the trouble.</p>
<p>His question gets three identical pointed looks sent his way. Tim raises an eyebrow at them, clearly missing the reason why they were all looking at him like that.</p>
<p>Bart stops spinning on the chair and turns his body so he’s facing Tim straight on. “Are you being serious? Is that some kind of human joke we don’t know about? We know you have a sense of humour Tim but I don’t know if that counts as being humorous.”</p>
<p>Tim opens his mouth to protest but Kon speaks up before he could, he sounds peeved as he talks. “Tim, you’re part of our crew no matter what. We all consider you one of us. It doesn’t matter how you joined us or how we met or what your background is. Of course we were coming after you.”</p>
<p>This time when Tim goes to protest he’s interrupted by Cassie. “Tim, let me ask you this. Why did you come to the office when we were in there?”</p>
<p>That makes him pause. He glances at the Amazon to find her watching him with a contemplated look as she waits for an answer. Tim looks away and focuses on his hands in lap as he thinks it through.</p>
<p>“I don’t know… I just – I felt guilty because you lot were being chewed out for saving me which seems unfair from my perspective and none of you deserve it. To be fair it was a rather spontaneous choice, one of which Kara protested against but I refused to listen.”</p>
<p>“Why did you feel guilty? Our choices were our own, you had no say in them.”</p>
<p>“Because you’ve all helped me in ways I can never repay and you’re paying the price of doing so. If I hadn’t been around you all wouldn’t be in this mess.”</p>
<p>“You came to the office to say your piece, to be on our side and defend us. While it wasn’t necessary because the leaders are all pompous and have already decided our punishments and nothing will change that, you still went and did it because you <em>care. </em>You care about us as we do you.</p>
<p>You came to the office because we were there, just like the way we went to the base ship because that’s where you were. We did it because we <em>wanted</em> too.”</p>
<p>Tim blinks at his hands as he thinks it through. He knows deep down that Cassie has hit the nail on the head but he’s reluctant to admit it. He lets out a soft amused snort, “Well I think invading a ship full of assassins is rather different to barging into an office.”</p>
<p>That comment gets him several grins.</p>
<p>“The reason behind both actions are the same are they not? Despite how different the scenarios are they have the same meaning.” Kon says looking at him.</p>
<p>Knowing that there’s not much else to say, unless he wants them to go around in circles again, Tim simply nods. “Thank you. I really mean when I say I’m grateful for everything you all have done.”</p>
<p>“You’ve certainly made our job a lot more interesting!” Bart laughs as he once again starts spinning on the chair. “If anything we probably owe you an apology, after all you got taken when we were supposed to be protecting you.”</p>
<p>At that Tim frowns and shakes his head. “No. I don’t blame you for that. It’s just an unfortunate  occurrence. Yeah I could have done without the torture but I don’t blame you guys for that.”</p>
<p>Cassie sends him a deadpan expression. “An <em>‘unfortunate occurrence’</em>? You’re labelling yourself getting kidnapped and tortured as an ‘unfortunate occurrence’. That’s not right. Is it just an ‘unfortunate occurrence’ the first time you were taken too?”</p>
<p>Tim winces when she says that. “Maybe that came out wrong but I stand by what I said. I don’t blame none of you for it happening.”</p>
<p>This gets him a bunch of eye rolls though thankfully they drop it at that. Once again, it happens to be a conversation which they could easily go around in circles with. After that a silence settles over them while they each get lost in their thoughts.</p>
<p>Tim’s thinking about how hopefully this is the start of the end. After the leaders have discussed whatever they need to about whatever it is, hopefully they’ll allow him to go home. When he goes home who know what will happen. What’s the chance that Ra’s will find him again? What if something follows him back to Earth? Will his family still be there? Will they believe it’s him when he returns? How long has it been since he disappeared? What will life be like now he knows what exists in the universe?</p>
<p>All these questions he can think of and every one of them all have unpredictable answers. Tim has no idea what’s around the corner and has to wait to find out what will happen.</p>
<p>“I’ve been thinking why doesn’t Tim get some more sleep, while the rest of us make ourselves useful somewhere. Sitting here isn’t achieving anything.”</p>
<p>Cassie’s comment breaks Tim out of his thoughts and he finds himself unable to refuse that idea. Some more sleep does sound pretty good. Plus if he’s asleep at least he’s not actively thinking.</p>
<p>“Yeah okay. That sounds like a plan.” Kon easily agrees. Bart hums his agreement and jumps up from the chair he’s on.</p>
<p>Tim glances at Kon. “You don’t mind me taking your bed?”</p>
<p>Kon waves his hand nonchalantly. “Well I’m not using it so go ahead. Plus you look like you need the rest. It’s still so weird about how much sleep you humans need.”</p>
<p>Tim rolls his eyes but isn’t annoyed at the comment. He too sometimes thinks that himself. As Cassie gets up from the bed, Tim takes her spot and gets comfortable. The others all leave the room, claiming they’ll be back in a bit to check on him. By the time the door shuts Tim is out like a light.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I just would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who is still reading this, to those who have left kudos and to those who leave comments. All of it is greatly appreciated, thank you so much!</p>
<p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I apologise if it seems a little disjointed, certain scenes in this chapter were difficult to write but hopefully I managed to do a good enough of a job to make it flow and enjoyable! Thanks again for sticking through this with me :D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The days that follow Tim’s rescue from the League of Assassins turn out to be rather dull. They certainly don’t hold any excitement like the time it took to save Tim from the League. The dullness of the days may actually be a positive thing rather than a negative thing because they were all resting and recovering from what happened.</p>
<p>They all have a bout of fatigue which lasts for around a day, or in Tim’s case several days. Bart, Kara and M’gann are all thankfully okay as none of them had sustained any form of injury during the rescue. By this point, Bart had pretty much recovered from his unexplained coma he had fallen into when Tim had been kidnapped.</p>
<p>Other than feeling the fatigue, Cassie is fine. Her biggest problem is the unknown bracelets that are still encasing her wrists. Her powers are still blocked and so far they’ve tried everything to remove them but it’s all resulted with no luck. As far as Kon knows, the leaders have contacted a powerful sorcerer and have asked them to come to Krypton to remove the bracelets. The sorcerer will be arriving within the next couple of days.</p>
<p>Kon himself isn’t doing too bad. He’s felt the same fatigue everyone else has but has not sustained any physical injuries. His biggest problem is the kryptonite particles that are still in his body. While Ra’s hadn’t injected him with enough that would kill him, Kon had been injected with enough that his own powers are subdued from the poison. He has the occasional dizzy spell and there are times when he feels nauseated, but other than that he’s okay. The medical specialists haven’t been much help, they haven’t encountered this kind of scenario before so Kon’s currently playing the waiting game and seeing if it passes. The hope is that his body will eventually flush out the poison in its own time.</p>
<p>Out of all of them, Tim’s suffered the worst. He’s experienced the fatigue worse than anyone else, Kon knew humans slept a lot but Tim’s been sleeping a lot more than usual which is rather concerning. He’s also gained the most wounds. When they first found him on the ship, Kon had been horrified to find out that Tim had been tortured. The poor human had been whipped and beaten, he looked exhausted and his back had been covered in fresh cuts.</p>
<p>As soon as they had reached Krypton, they immediately got Tim some medical help. The specialists had seem rather stumped for a moment, like they didn’t know how to proceed when treating a human but soon enough they took action and treated Tim’s back with a special healing agent that was supposed to help increase his recovery time.</p>
<p>When they had all been checked over they were allowed to go to their rooms to rest for some time. The resting interlude lasted longer than Kon had been expecting but eventually he, Cassie and Bart had been summoned to the office and were forced to face a livid Kal.</p>
<p>Kon knew the lecture was coming. He had known he was going to be in serious trouble from the moment he decided to go rescue Tim from the League. Rao, he knew he would be in trouble from the moment they allowed Tim onto their ship when they first met him.</p>
<p>Knowing it was going to happen, Kon didn’t bother to argue against Kal as the older Kryptonian furiously yelled at them. What Kon hadn’t expected during the lecture was for Tim to come in and disrupt Kal with an abashed looking Kara right behind him.</p>
<p>When Kal tuned on Tim that’s when Kon knew he had to protest, there’s no way any of this had been Tim’s fault. Everything that has happened is because it’s been a result from a choice Kon had made. When Kal had boomed at him to keep quiet Kon found himself unable to disobey. He sat down and allowed it all to play out. Much to his surprise, and even delight, Tim didn’t need any defending, he stood up to Kal without a problem and got his opinion and point across.</p>
<p>The whole situation took an unexpected turn when Kal sat down behind the desk, looking resigned and even tired. He heard Tim out, pointed out all the faults, how they’ve disobeyed the rules and how they need to be punished for their actions before dismissing them.</p>
<p>After the four of them left Kara in the office with Kal, they immediately jumped Tim demanding answers for his sudden appearance and why he thought it had been a good idea to argue with the older Kryptonian like that. Before discussing it they decided to retreat to Kon’s room where they would have the privacy to openly talk about it.</p>
<p>Kon’s heart melted as Tim told them his reasons and what he thought of the situation. It meant a lot to him, and the others, that Tim would want to stand up for them like that and even care enough to confront their leaders to get his point across.</p>
<p>Towards the end of their talk, Kon could tell that the day had been wearing on Tim. The human looked entirely exhausted and it seemed like he was about to fall asleep any second. Giving Tim an easy way out, Kon suggested that he should get some rest while they go make themselves useful elsewhere. Tim looked unsure on the idea but didn’t really protest against it and easily laid down on the bed while they left the room.</p>
<p>That had been two days ago. Not a lot has changed during that time. Bart seemed fully recovered and is zipping around all over the place and is chatting everybody’s ears off as he does so. Cassie still has the bracelets over her wrists as the sorcerer has yet to arrive. Kon’s just starting to get his powers back, he could feel hints of his Telekinesis returning which happens to be a huge relief. Tim is recovering rather well too. His back is nearly healed now, while the wounds have closed and almost disappeared, his usually pale skin is rather pink and is apparently sensitive. It’ll be another few days until his skin is back to feeling normal.</p>
<p>The four of them have been together almost constantly since returning to Krypton. They would occasionally been joined by others but majority of the time it remains to be them four only. Just like on the ship, they play various of games, talk and share stories and even watch some entertainment.</p>
<p>Tim tells them more about Earth and Kon notices the change in Tim as he talks about his home planet. His face gets a faraway look to it, especially if the topic is on his family, as he describes the planet and what it contains. He describes about the different ways humans can live and even goes into detail about what an average day may look like to them. It sounds absolutely bewildering to Kon but he doesn’t comment on it.</p>
<p>During one of Tim’s stories they get summoned to report to Kal’s office. The request (or in fact demand) instantly kills the light atmosphere of the room and they all share a heavy knowing look. They all know what the topic of this meeting is going to be about as Kon and his team have been waiting to hear back from Kal and the leaders about what their punishments are going to be.</p>
<p>They had knowingly broke important rules and kept major secrets hidden so it’s only a guess to what’s going to happen to them now. Kon honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they all get exiled or something equivalent to that.</p>
<p>They wait outside the office to be called in, all of them feeling apprehensive about how this meeting is going to go. Despite this feeling, Kon still doesn’t regret any of his choices. He doesn’t regret picking Tim up off that planet from when they first met and he certainly doesn’t regret disobeying orders and rescuing Tim from the League.</p>
<p>When they finally get called in Cassie walks in first with the rest of them trailing behind her. They enter the room and stand in a line in front of the desk where Kal is standing watching them. Kon takes note that it’s only Kal in the room and how no other leaders are present. It doesn’t mean much, however having only Kal present to deliver the news of the punishment eases Kon’s nerves by a fraction, not a lot, but some.</p>
<p>“Have a seat.” Kal tells them. They all sit down without a word.  </p>
<p>“You all know why you’re here. The leaders have made a decision on what your punishment is going to be based on you disobeying orders, keeping secrets and endangering lives.” Kal looks over them scrutinizingly. “You’re all fortunate because what has been decided could have been a lot worse, especially with what was being considered. I vouched for you and managed to ease the severity of your punishment. ”</p>
<p>Kon’s eyes go wide at that news. He’s stunned to hear that Kal had stood up for them, had somewhat softened their punishment for unknown reasons to Kon. Before he could question it Kal continues to talk.</p>
<p>“Your punishment includes the three of you going on probation for the foreseen future. You three cannot not be trusted to be sent on missions and you will remain on either Krypton, Themyscira or Keystone at all times. When you have showed you can follow orders and be obedient, you will then be allowed to go on missions. While on those missions, you will be assisted by an older member of the squadron until you prove yourselves yet again. Only when myself and the other leaders are satisfied with your behaviour will you be allowed to go off independently.</p>
<p>During that time, your training regime will increase while your downtime will decrease. You will all be watched closely and expected to obey every order without complaint and completed with full effort. The fact that we’re allowing you to stay together is one of the reasons why you have gotten off lightly.”</p>
<p>Kon blinks at him, absorbing what he’s being told. The punishment isn’t as bad as he thought it was going to be. If he’s being honest, that’s in fact a really light punishment considering what they’ve done. It’s making him wonder what levels of negotiating Kal had done to allow that to be the final decision.</p>
<p>His attention focuses back on Kal when he moves around the desk to the front where he then leans against it. Kal observes them and crosses his arms across his chest in a casual pose, to Kon it looks rather odd. It’s unsettling to see because Kon can’t remember the last time Kal look this easy going about something, especially when dealing with a heavy topic like this.</p>
<p>“For now however, it’s been decided that you three still have a job to finish. You are required to finish collecting the remaining items from the list and return back to Krypton without any detours. Once you are back your probation will start.</p>
<p>Whilst on your travels, the leaders have decided to give you permission to return the human back to Earth. The sooner he returns back to where he belongs, the quicker things go back to the way they were before his appearance.”</p>
<p>As if things couldn’t get better, they do. Kon’s gaze snaps over to where Tim is sitting and finds the human looking at Kal in a state of shock and excitement. For probably the first time Kon could guess to what’s going through Tim’s head, he can’t believe he’ll finally be going home after everything he’s been through.</p>
<p>Kal grabs Kon’s attention again as he continues on. “The sorcerer we have been waiting for to remove those bracelets on Cassandra will be arriving later this day. Once he has dealt with them you four are required to stay on Krypton for several more days and then you’ll be sent to finish your job and to take the human back to Earth.</p>
<p>That is all I have to update you on. You will receive further details regarding everything I have spoken to you about over the next few days. Kon-el, stay behind, I would like to talk to you privately.”</p>
<p>Once Kal had stopped talking it takes them all a moment before they’re moving. It’s like it takes everyone a moment to understand and absorb everything that’s been said. Cassie and Bart stand up, sending Kon almost pitying looks which Kon sends a tight smile in return, while Tim remains frozen in his seat. Cassie gently takes his arm and starts pulling him up, the action seems to bring Tim back into the present and he allows himself to be dragged out of the office by the Amazon. Bart follows closely behind and slams the door shut once they leave.</p>
<p>Kon turns back to Kal, his nerves returning as he waits to hear what Kal wants to say to him and not the others.</p>
<p>“Kon,” Kal sighs. The older Kryptonian slumps more against the desk and runs a hand over his face. “I wish I didn’t have to put you on any form of probation but there was no choice.”</p>
<p>Upon hearing that Kon shakes his head. “Honestly, probation didn’t even come to my mind. I had been expecting exile or something.” He looks at Kal, trying to search for the answer. “Why did you vouch for us? What kind of negotiations did you make so we could stay together, so we could keep our jobs and even help Tim get back to Earth? I don’t understand why you would do that for us.”</p>
<p>Kal drops his hand and stares at Kon for a long moment. His eyes boring into Kon’s own and Kon stares back just as transfixed. There’s been many times in his life where Kon’s stared down Kal, nearly all of which he lost but this feels different. There isn’t any heat behind this, only confusion and misunderstanding.</p>
<p>“I know what you think of me Kon-el. I know I’m hard on you, demanding high expectations and treating you as another squadron member when in fact you are more than that to me.”</p>
<p>Kon swallows thickly and stands up from his chair as Kal starts approaching him. There’s still quite a height difference between them, but Kon standing up means that Kal is then looming over him as much as he would be if he stayed sitting.</p>
<p>“You <em>are</em> my son, Kon-el. No matter what you think or how my actions may come across. I am angry with what you did but reflecting back on it, you were simply doing what you believed was right. I am proud of you for that, proud that you have those kind and strong personality traits inside of you.</p>
<p>Of course I was going to fight and negotiate terms with the other leaders to make the punishment as less harsh for you and your team as possible. Luckily considering my position and the respect I have, my opinion on the matter was regarded highly, even with the many complaints against what I was saying.”</p>
<p>Kon gapes at Kal in complete astonishment. He’s rendered speechless from the information he’s been told. Kon hadn’t been expecting that at all and he has no idea how he should react to it. Kal has <em>never</em> shown this much affection and devotion to him. They’ve never been close all throughout Kon’s life, they’re constantly fighting one another and can never seem to agree on anything.</p>
<p>This has totally caught him off guard and he doesn’t know what to do.</p>
<p>The two of them stand there in silence opposite one another long enough for it to become awkward. Kon has the strongest urge to escape from the room, to get away from this atmosphere, but he can’t seem to make his feet move. Kal’s eye are constantly darting between him and another point in the room, it makes Kon wonder if Kal is having the same thoughts as him.</p>
<p>“I, uh, is, is that everything?” Kon stutters out eventually after finding his voice again.</p>
<p>Kal stares at him, looking uncomfortable. “Yes. That’s everything. You and your team need to stay on Krypton for several more days and then you can go to Earth.”</p>
<p>Kon blinks at Kal for a moment longer. It’s still so unexpected that they’re allowed to stay together and also how they get to take Tim home after all of this.</p>
<p>Deciding to finally get out of the office and away from the awkwardness, Kon gives Kal a curt nod and leaves the room. He strides out of the office without looking back and once the doors have closed behind him Kon stops in the middle of the corridor to take a deep breath before letting it out. As he does, he feels most of the tension in his body leave.</p>
<p>His mind begins to work over-time as it replays the whole conversation between him and Kal over and over again. Kon’s still in shock of it. He probably won’t believe what’s been said until it actually happens. It does make him wonder on how truthful Kal is being. Will he stick to his word or will he double-cross them at the last second?</p>
<p>Kon shakes his head and starts travelling down the corridor. He needs to find the others and see what they make of the situation.</p>
<p>Taking a guess to their whereabouts Kon heads for his room first and is pleased to find that his assumption is correct. He finds Bart and Tim laid out over the bed with Cassie sat on the chair, to his surprise even Kara is in there too, leaning against the desk next to Cassie.</p>
<p>Kon shuts the door behind him and rests his back against the wardrobe.</p>
<p>“Kara’s just telling us how Match and Thad are having new trial after everything that has happened.” Cassie speaks up glancing at him. “Unfortunately we won’t be around to see it because we’ll be working off planet. Which thinking about it, is probably why the leaders are holding it after we leave.”</p>
<p>Kon raises an eyebrow at Cassie before turning his attention to Kara. “How did you find that out? Kal never mentioned anything of it.”</p>
<p>Kara shoots him a cunning grin. “I have my ways.”</p>
<p>He opens his mouth to respond but quickly decides against it. It’s probably for the best he doesn’t know. He hums in response instead.</p>
<p>“Did you get in trouble?” Bart asks from his position on the bed. He’s fiddling with something in his hands and seems to be completely unperturbed by Tim who is currently resting his head on his shoulder and appears to be falling asleep.</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“With Kal? When he asked you to stay behind. What did he want?”</p>
<p>Kon thinks over his answer before saying anything. He doesn’t know how much detail he should go into about their conversation. It feels kind of personal and Kon’s not sure if he actually wants to share that with them. In the end he decides to give as minimal details as possible.</p>
<p>“He pretty much just reiterated what he told us as a team. There wasn’t anything to it really.”</p>
<p>A glance around the room tells him that he’s only piqued their curiosity more, they’re sending him questioning looks, silently asking for more details but he shakes his head in denial. “It’s nothing. I promise.”</p>
<p>While seeming reluctant to do so, they thankfully they let it go.</p>
<p>After that they sit around talking and not generally doing a lot, not that there’s much they can do anyway. Tim does end up falling asleep on Bart and the Speedster lets him do so while the rest of them talk quietly around him. At some point Kara says her farewell and leaves the room claiming she has things to do.</p>
<p>They stay in the room for a few hours until they decide to go grab some food. Or more correctly, Bart complains enough about being hungry that he and Cassie give in in order to make him shut up. They wake Tim up, who blinks around groggily looking confused as ever.</p>
<p>Their plan for food is put to a halt however when Kal bumps into them in a corridor leading to the canteen area of the TOC. The older Kryptonian declares he had been searching for them because the sorcerer has arrived to remove the bracelets off of Cassie’s wrists.</p>
<p>They each share a surprised look and eagerly follow Kal. They wonder through the building and end up in a single room which is assigned for meetings. There’s a large oval table in the middle of the room which is surrounded by multiple of chairs and there are a few different cabinets around the edge of the room.</p>
<p>Sat in one of the chairs is someone who is wearing a gold helmet over their head, a blue and gold one-suit with a gold cape draped over his shoulders.</p>
<p>“This is Doctor Fate. He’ll be able to remove the bracelets off of Cassie.” Kal introduces him to them.</p>
<p>They politely give him their greetings and after a short conversation, Doctor Fate moves over to Cassie and begins to examine the bracelets encasing her wrists. There’s a long, drawn out silence as he does this. Kon watches with concern, not liking the fact that he has no idea what’s going on.</p>
<p>Eventually Doctor Fate begins speaking, saying words Kon doesn’t understand, as he hovers his hands over Cassie’s wrists. His tone sounds rather robotic, as he seems to chant certain words repeatedly. Alongside the chant, a light from his palms appears and wraps itself around the bracelets.</p>
<p>Kon watches the scene both cautiously and in awe. It’s bizarre to be witnessing something like this happening, however he wishes it weren’t one of his teammates on the end of it.</p>
<p>He’s broken out of his thoughts when Cassie suddenly gasps and a loud popping sound could be heard. The two bracelets fall to the ground as they pop off Cassie’s wrists and the light dies as Doctor Fate stops chanting.</p>
<p>Cassie gingerly reaches up to stroke the skin of her wrists, as if checking to see if they’re unharmed. Seeming satisfied, she looks up at Doctor Fate, nodding at him in gratitude. “Thank you.”</p>
<p>“I haven’t encountered a spell like that in a long time. I hope I don’t see it for many more years to come. Your abilities will eventually return though it’ll take time, especially considering how they have been suppressed recently.”</p>
<p>Cassie hums with understanding and takes a step away from the sorcerer. They all stand around and watch as he bends down to pick the bracelets up off the floor. He waves a hand over them again and then they suddenly vanish. Kon does a double take, blinking several times to try and comprehend that’s just what happened. He’s used to a lot of things but objects magically disappearing isn’t one of them.</p>
<p>Doctor Fate moves with his body as he glances around the room, he stills as his eyes land on Tim. The human, who has now woken up more, visibly jerks at the sudden attention. Kon sees him tense up as the sorcerer strides forward until he’s directly in front of Tim, looking down at him for a long time without saying anything. Tim looks like he’s stuck between frozen in fear and ready to make a run for it in a moment’s notice.</p>
<p>“I have something to assist you, human from Earth.” Doctor Fate says in that robotic voice. The only change in Tim’s appearance is the widening of his eyes. “This here will act as a cloaking device, it will keep you hidden from those who wish to follow you and cause you harm. I cannot guarantee full immunity, however it will help and at the least slow down any pursuers.”</p>
<p>Doctor Fate then holds up a what looks like a thin chain. It’s silver in colour and hanging at the bottom of it is a red gemstone. Kon isn’t exactly knowledgeable of gemstones but he could take a guess and call it a ruby given its red colour.</p>
<p>Tim’s mouth opens but he doesn’t say anything. Doctor Fate holds out the cloaking device and prompts Tim to take it. The human does so and carefully cradles it in his palm as he studies it.</p>
<p>“For as long as you have it on you, it will work. Take it off or give it away, it will no longer function as it should.”</p>
<p>Tim finally seems to get over the shock and trance he had fallen into and looks up at the sorcerer towering over him. He nods. “I understand. Thank you, it means more than what words can describe.”</p>
<p>As if sensing that to be a close to the conversation, Doctor Fate turns around to face Kal. “If that is everything here I believe we have other business to attend to?”</p>
<p>The two of them leave the room without a glance to Kon and the others. Once they had left and the door has shut, Kon turns his attention on Tim. The human now seems to be blinking at the gemstone in his hand once again, his expression is distant and Kon figures his thoughts must be all over the place. Deciding to leave him be for a moment, Kon turns to Cassie.</p>
<p>“How are you feeling Cass?”</p>
<p>Cassie moves her wrists about and sends him a pensive look. “It feels like I’ve been freed from a massive weight. I can feel my powers but it’s like I can’t activate them in a way. I know they’ll take time to come back but I have missed the feeling of them. I’m just glad to have those things off of me.”</p>
<p>From next to him Bart seems to suddenly explode, he’s been quiet the whole time the sorcerer had been in the room but now it’s like he’s lost all restraint and is releasing all of his energy at once. He bombards Cassie with questions. “Did you see the light around them? Thatwassocool! Whatdidthatfeellike? Diditfeellikeanythingatall? I’veneverseenanythinglikethatbefore!”</p>
<p>Kon rolls his eyes at Bart’s antics. Cassie does the same but is looking rather amused as Bart vibrates on the spot as he talks. While Cassie engages with an excitable Bart Kon turns back to Tim once again to find him in the same position as before.</p>
<p>“Tim? Everything okay?”</p>
<p>The human seems to snap out of his thoughts at the sound of Kon’s voice. His head jerks up and he looks at Kon with wide eyes. “Huh? Oh yeah, yeah everything’s fine. I just hadn’t been expecting this that’s all.”</p>
<p>Kon hums, sending Tim a small smile. “Well, the little bit of extra protection can’t hurt right?”</p>
<p>Tim grins back. “Exactly.”</p>
<p>Bart abruptly appears between them, frantically looking backwards and forwards. “Hey, can we get food now! I’m hungry!”</p>
<p>Sighing Kon shakes his head in amusement and heads for the door. “Yes we can go food now…”</p>
<p>Without waiting Bart zooms past him and out of the room. Kon shares an exasperated look with Cassie before following him but at a much more leisurely pace. Cassie is right beside him and Tim is following closely behind them.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Several more days go by and within that time, all of them have healed a considerable amount. Cassie’s powers have fully returned, Bart is as energetic as ever, Tim’s wounds are finally healed, and Kon himself is feeling almost back to normal. His powers are still weak but they are slowly getting stronger, by this point he now knows only with time will they fully return to what they were before he was poisoned.</p>
<p>Once it had become clear they were ready for active duty again they were given permission to finish their jobs and to return Tim back to Earth. Of course their punishment is far less severe than what it really should have been but Kon is more than grateful that Kal is allowing them to take Tim back home rather than getting someone else to do it.</p>
<p>However just because they got to return Tim back together in their own ship, doesn’t mean they have total freedom like they previously did. Something they had to agree on was to have an appointed escort from the leaders. On the ship it would be Kon, his team, Tim and another Kryptonian who is there to observe them.</p>
<p>Before they leave Krypton they take time in prepping the ship and making sure they have everything they need for an extended amount of time. There wasn’t much to do other than last minute stocking of essential items and final checks of the functions of the ship. Once that was done, they were free to go.</p>
<p>When they enter space the first thing they decided to do is head for Earth to take Tim back. The human has suffered enough and all of them want nothing more other than to see him home safely. They hope they can get to Earth without running into anymore assassins.</p>
<p>On board the ship, Cassie and Kon take control of the dashboard with Cassie navigating and Kon in the pilot’s seat. Cassie sets in the coordinates for Earth and Kon steers them in the right direction.</p>
<p>“You know, I never expected this to happen when we first left all that time ago to do our jobs.” Cassie says glancing over at him.</p>
<p>Kon gives her a side look. It’s the two of them in the cockpit at that moment. The other Kryptonian had taken up a room somewhere and to Kon’s knowledge Bart and Tim were in the common room. “Didn’t expect what? Finding and befriending a human? Getting involved and captured by the League of Assassins? Meeting the Demon’s Head himself? Getting in major trouble with the leaders?”</p>
<p>Cassie shrugs. “All of it I guess.”</p>
<p>“Well it’s certainly been an interesting experience.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, interesting is one way to put it.” Cassie laughs. “I have to admit I didn’t like Tim at first. Out of every species there is in the universe, he had to be a human being from Earth. Since they have their own reputation, I immediately judged him based on that. I don’t think like that anymore, he’s grown on me. Seeing how strong and resilient he is, despite how undeveloped they are, Tim certainly has a different kind of strength. It’s impressive.”</p>
<p>Kon sends Cassie a shocked look. He didn’t know the Amazon felt like that about Tim, and he’s also surprised she’s admitting this to him.</p>
<p>“When did your mind change?” Kon asks curiously. Of course he had known Cassie disliked Tim, it had been easy to see the hostile actions she made towards Tim when they all first met. He and Bart were different, the two of them immediately befriended Tim and wanted to protect him from the start.</p>
<p>“I think the first real time I looked past Tim being a human was when he tackled the Galavent off me when we were on Tordar. He had no reason to help or save me and he did anyway, and in the process of that he got badly wounded from it. That’s when my opinion started to change.”</p>
<p>Kon nods, remembering the incident. It had been one of the first times he saw Tim injured to an extreme extent. Humans were both fragile and durable at the same time.</p>
<p>“I’m glad we’ve been able to keep him alive though we may have accidently almost killed him many times too, but hopefully we can return him home soon.” He comments thoughtfully.</p>
<p>Cassie nods her agreement and the two of them fall silent. They stay at the dashboard for a while as they plan their route to Earth before moving onto planning the route on the way back. Before they can return to Krypton they need to finish off their collection job, so together they organise in what order they would visit each planet they need to so they don’t back track on themselves.</p>
<p>When they find themselves with not a lot else to do, the two of them leave the cockpit and join Bart and Tim in the common room. Their friends were sprawled out on the seats watching something on the entertainment screen. Bart is surrounded by different food items while Tim is wrapped up in a blanket. Finding space between them, he and Cassie sit down and easily join in.</p>
<p>As he watches the screen it occurs Kon that this would probably be the last time they do this. It wouldn’t be too long before they reach Earth, so their time with Tim is now limited. While he’s happy that Tim will be returning home it also makes him feel a little disappointed because Tim will no longer be a presence on the ship.</p>
<p>Perhaps once their punishment is over, he could try and convince Cassie and Bart for them to visit Tim at some point. He’s sure they wouldn’t mind and he hopes Tim would be up for it. But that’ll have to wait and see.</p>
<p>As expected, it doesn’t take long to get to Earth. It still takes a while but it’s definitely not the longest time Kon has had to travel to a planet before. Once they get within proximity of the planet, he calls everyone to the cockpit.</p>
<p>“This is the first time I’ve ever seen Earth. Like I’ve heard about it but never have visited before.” Bart comments grinning widely from where he’s standing on Kon’s right. Kon could see how excited the Speedster is because he’s vibrating on the spot.</p>
<p>Kon hums as he stares out the front, the planet now coming into clear view. He’s been to a lot of planets in his time, each one unique and different to the rest but Kon has to say he doesn’t see the appeal in Earth. Sure it’s definitely one of the prettier planets they’ve come across, the green, blue and white colours make it interesting to look at but other than that there isn’t a lot to it.</p>
<p>That’s until he glances at Tim. The human is stood to his left between his and Cassie’s seats staring ahead. His expression is open, the mixture of wonder and awe can easily be seen. This planet may not mean anything to Kon, but it means everything to Tim. It’s his home. It’s where he comes from. Now thinking about it, this probably is the first time Tim’s seen Earth from this angle. To him it really must be a sight to behold.</p>
<p>Kon stops the ship before they enter Earth’s atmosphere. He needs to know where to go to drop Tim home but also allows Tim some extra time to take in the view.</p>
<p>“I’ve seen pictures of what Earth looks like from space, however those are absolutely nothing in comparison than actually seeing it for real. I honestly don’t know what to say. I’m speechless, completely mind blown. This is amazing.”</p>
<p>They all grow quiet as they all observe the planet before them.</p>
<p>When a considerable amount of time has gone by Kon straightens up in his seat and looks at Tim again. The human’s eyes were wide and his mouth is open agape as the continues to stare ahead. “Tim, do you know how to get home? Like what the coordinates are? I want to try and get you as close as possible.”</p>
<p>It takes a moment for Tim to break his gaze away from the view, but even then Tim wasn’t giving Kon all of his attention. His gaze constantly flickers between him and the planet.  </p>
<p>“I uh… well… I don’t know coordinates but I may be able to roughly guide you down?” Tim says sounding unsure. A frown appears on his face. “I, obviously, haven’t done this before and there’s the fact I have no idea on how people are going to react seeing a spaceship come from space. We should be concerned about getting fired at or something.”</p>
<p>“Well…” Cassie starts off, she leans forward and presses a few different controls on the dashboard, “being seen won’t be a problem because we’ll go into camouflage mode. No one will see us enter the atmosphere.”</p>
<p>Tim lets out a breath. “Okay. That’s good. Now give me a moment I need to work out what country we’re seeing at the moment. Is that Africa or South America? Oh wait, Africa is to the right and South America is to the left. Okay, so we need to go more west and up a bit more.”</p>
<p>Gently guiding the ship Kon follows Tim’s vague directions. He keeps glancing at the human waiting for him to tell him when to stop. When they’re over a large green section of the planet, Kon figures this must be land, Tim tells him to stop.</p>
<p>“This is North America.” Tim educates them. “There are seven countries on Earth and this is one of them, this is also where I come from. Now go to the very far East of this bit of land. Only when you get closer to the land itself will I actually be able to tell you where to go.”</p>
<p>Trying to find Tim’s home turns out to be a rather stressful and frustrating process. There’s a lot of manoeuvring to do and a few times they’ve had to back track but as they get closer to the land it slowly becomes easier and when they aren’t too far above it, Tim finally gets a solid sense of direction.</p>
<p>Kon parks the ship down in a place that looks completely abandoned from life, Tim claims it to be empty fields just outside the city he lives in.</p>
<p>He figures Tim knows what’s best for him and Kon goes along with it. Once he’s parked the ship he turns it off and the four of them make their way down to the bottom of the ship so they can finally say goodbye to Tim.</p>
<p>“I want to thank you all for everything that you have done for me. Even when you didn’t have to, I really am grateful for what you’ve done. You saved my life, rescued me when I got captured again, then returned me home. I apologise that you all got in trouble because of me, I wish you didn’t. Thank you.” Tim says earnestly, looking at each of them in turn as he talks.</p>
<p>Bart immediately jumps into reassuring Tim it isn’t his fault and then proceeds to give the human a long speech about meeting him and what their time together has meant. Cassie soon follows up with similar comments and even a joke about how high maintenance humans are.</p>
<p>When it comes to Kon’s turn he has no idea on what to say. Of course he has familiar feelings and thoughts as the other two but repeating them for a third time doesn’t feel right.</p>
<p>“Um… I’m glad we’ve got you home safe,” he starts off with, “some days it may have felt like you never were going to make it home, especially with everything you’ve had to endure but we finally managed to get you here. You’re the first human we met and I’m glad it was you, you’re incredible Tim and have certainly changed opinions on what human beings are like.”</p>
<p>Tim cracks a smile at that. His words still don’t feel enough but Kon has no idea on how to speak what he’s feeling. He watches as Tim wipes at his eyes and as he takes a shaky breath. The actions make Kon frown. “Are you okay?”</p>
<p>The humans laughs lightly, a small smile forming on his face as he rapidly blinks. “I’m fine, just emotional. We’re saying goodbye after all. I owe you all everything and I can’t thank you enough for what you have done. I’ll forever be grateful.”</p>
<p>“It’s an honour to meet you Tim. We won’t forget you either.” Cassie responds softly, smiling at him.</p>
<p>Suddenly Tim’s moving, he steps towards Cassie and throws his arms around her. Cassie freezes on the spot, her arms are spread wide like she doesn’t know where to place them as Tim presses up against her. Before she could do anything however Tim abruptly steps back, now looking embarrassed.</p>
<p>“I’m so sorry for that. I just, well, I really wanted a hug that’s all.”</p>
<p>“I want one!” Bart exclaims. Now this time, it’s Tim who doesn’t get the chance to do anything before Bart is wrapping his arms around Tim. The human stumbles but gets his footing and returns the hug. After a moment they separate and then Kon takes it as an open invitation and hugs Tim himself.</p>
<p>Tim’s arms wrap around him and they stay embraced for a moment longer before parting. Cassie soon repeats the action and the two of them hug properly this time.</p>
<p>When they finally part Tim bends down and grabs a carrier off the floor. Everything he’s accumulated over time while on the ship is in that carrier. There’s some clothes, a few snacks they’d given him and his universal translator remote.</p>
<p>“Oh before I go,” Tim says opening the carrier as he apparently remembers something. He brings out that colourful cube of his and holds it out to Bart. “You can have this. There are hundreds around on Earth but you still haven’t completed it. Keep it and finish it off for me.”</p>
<p>Bart looks shocked but takes the cube out of Tim’s hand and holds it up to his chest. He smiles and thanks Tim.</p>
<p>After that Kon opens the door and Tim turns around to the exit. The three of them stand by as they watch Tim descend down the ramp and onto his homeland. Once he reaches the bottom Tim spins around and looks at them, he sends them one last smile before turning away again and starts walking in a direction. Its only when he’s out of sight that Kon shuts the door, finally saying goodbye forever.</p>
<p>The three of them return to the cockpit with a heavy silence hanging around them. It’s going to take some time to adjust not having Tim with them anymore. At least they all know Tim has returned home safely, he’ll go back living his human life and they’ll go back living theirs.</p>
<p>In a quiet and muted tone Kon announces their next destination and starts the ship up. With a heavy feeling in his chest, Kon guides the ship up and away from Earth and into the void of space.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm just going to say I really enjoyed writing this chapter. It turned out way longer than what I had been expecting it to, and it's still condensed down to what it could be! The reason it's so long because I had a lot of things I wanted to include in this chapter and I didn't want to break it up. </p>
<p>WARNINGS! A panic attack does occur, so be please be aware of that. Something else to be mindful of is that this chapter is FULL of emotions so be prepared, you've been warned! </p>
<p>Please enjoy! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He feels numb.</p>
<p>Tim doesn’t think there’s any other way to describe what he’s feeling in that moment. Sad, disappointed, despondent, happy, elevated, excited. There's whole mixture of emotions stirring inside of him, so when they combine it leaves him overwhelmingly numb.</p>
<p>He doesn’t see the ship take off but he knows when it leaves, there’s a gentle thrum in the air and strong gust of wind that catches him. Tim can’t believe it’s all over, he can’t believe that he’s back on Earth, that he’s almost <em>home</em>. There’s so many thoughts running through his mind along with so many questions he wants to ask and need answers to.</p>
<p>Tim purposely got Kon to drop him off in some fields just outside of Gotham city. The fields are an open space so there’s plenty of room to park and it’s a pretty much abandoned area so it was less likely someone would see them. The main road leading into the city isn’t too far away from the fields either, Tim plans to get to the road and hitchhike back to the city, perhaps someone may offer him a lift out of pity.</p>
<p>Tim shoulders the bag he’s got and continues forward. It’s crazy to think that in the next hour or so he’ll be reunited with his family. What will that be like? To see them all again after who knows how long? Will they be happy to see him?</p>
<p>Before those thoughts could get too far Tim shakes his head and tries to move away from them. If he thinks about it too hard then it’ll become too much to handle. The last thing he wants to happen in that moment is to become too overwhelmed and have some kind of breakdown. He needs to keep it together, just for a little longer because he’s almost there, it’s <em>so close</em> to being over.</p>
<p>Tim makes it to the side of the road and observes the various of vehicles zooming by. When was the last time he saw a car or a truck? Not only that, but the smell of patrol coming from the vehicles too?</p>
<p>Moving his attention away from the vehicles Tim continues on walking down the road, seeing Gotham City far up ahead. It’s currently light out, if he had to guess it may currently be around mid-afternoon, if he walks the entire way back to the city then it would probably be evening by the time he reaches it.</p>
<p>As he travels towards the city it’s easy to get lost in his thoughts, both negative and positive, and it certainly keeps him occupied as he walks over the gravel of the road. It’s not until a car pulls up in front of him that he comes out of his head and back into the present. Tim stops and frowns when he sees it’s a cop car that’s pulled over. He holds his breath as the driver climbs out and makes their way over to him, Tim has no idea on what to expect here, he’s almost tempted to turn back around and run into the trees.</p>
<p>The cop, a man around his mid-thirties wearing a cap and a GCPD uniform, stops a few feet away from him. He’s looking at Tim with an expression showing concern and confusion. “Hey there pal, what are you doing out here?”</p>
<p>Tim knows that he means well, but he does sound a little patronizing.</p>
<p>“I need to get to Gotham City.” Tim tells him without answering his question. How the hell was he supposed to answer that question? <em>I got dropped off by some aliens in a spaceship because I’ve been in space for who knows how long because I was kidnapped and now I’m on my way home.</em> Yeah right.</p>
<p>The cop seems to get the message that Tim wasn’t going to answer the question, he simply nods his head. “Yeah okay, I can give you a lift back. I’m Officer Ryan Peterson.” The man holds up his badge and Tim takes a moment to study it before nodding. The cop puts it away, staring at Tim as if he’s studying him and Tim could only watch back wearily, feeling rather sceptical about this situation. In the end the cop simply frowns and asks, “Have I seen you before, have we met?”</p>
<p>Tim blinks at the unexpectedness of the question. He raises an eyebrow. “No sir, I can’t recall us meeting.” Just because he’s weary doesn’t mean he’s going to be an asshole about it.</p>
<p>“What’s your name pal?”</p>
<p>Tim hesitates before answering, unsure whether to be truthful about it or not. Revealing the truth could make this go two ways. He tells the truth and then the cop takes him home and he gets reunited with his family or the cop could kidnap him and hold him hostage or something. (He’s from a rich family, hostage situations are unfortunately known to happen.)</p>
<p>Eventually he decides to chance it and tell the truth. “My name is Tim Drake.”</p>
<p>The cop’s eyes widen in surprise. He blinks at Tim for a moment as if trying to remember how to speak. “Tim Drake? As in Tim Drake-Wayne, missing son of the Bruce Wayne?”</p>
<p>Tim’s eyes widen in surprise, the cop knows he’s missing, he knows Tim’s family. “Yeah that’s right! Can you take me home? <em>Please.</em>”</p>
<p>“Pal, you’ve been missing for a long time. You’re really alive? Everyone is going to be ecstatic that you’re alive.” The officer gestures him over, “c’mon, let’s get you home and back to your family.”</p>
<p>Without waiting Tim hurries over to the car and climbs into the passenger’s side as the cop climbs into the driver’s seat. He starts the car up and then they’re on the road heading towards Gotham within seconds.</p>
<p>The officer glances at him. “I’m going to need to call this in, I hope you don’t mind. Unfortunately I’ll have to take you to the station before I can take you home.”</p>
<p>Tim feels his heart drop at the news. He shakes his head, almost feeling desperate. “No please. I <em>need</em> to go home. I need to see my family. Please! Once I’m there we can deal with all the legal stuff. I just need to see them.”</p>
<p>Peterson sighs and Tim stares at him pleadingly. The man switches between looking at the road and glancing at him several times before he speaks up sounding resigned. “Okay, fine. How about a compromise? I’ll still call it in but I’ll take you straight home. That sound okay?”</p>
<p>Figuring that’s the best he’s going to get, Tim nods in agreement. The cop smiles and reaches over the dashboard to grab his radio and speaks into it.</p>
<p>“Sir I’ve found Tim Drake-Wayne… No sir, he’s currently sitting right next to me. I was coming back from outside the city and found a boy walking alongside the main road on his own. I pulled over and spoke to him, it’s Tim Drake-Wayne, he looks exactly like the photos too. On my way back, just entering the city now.</p>
<p>No sir, I’m taking him straight home. I know, but he needs to go home first. I’m sure we can deal with the paperwork tomorrow while he reunites with his family tonight. If your daughter were missing wouldn’t you immediately want to be reunited at the first opportunity? Exactly, I’ll take him home, please call Mr Wayne in the meantime and we can continue the case later on. Thank you sir, I will.”</p>
<p>The cop returns the radio back to its place and sends Tim a sheepish smile.</p>
<p>“Sorry about that, really I should take you to the station where we can check you over, check your wellbeing, find out if you’re still in danger and sort paperwork out. We’ll have to definitely to discuss things with you and your family, but that can be at another time.</p>
<p>For now they’ll ring your dad and I’ll get you home. I’m assuming it’s the famous Wayne Manor correct?”</p>
<p>Tim nods and the cop goes quiet. As they travel through the city, Tim stares out of the window in disbelief. It feels like it’s been forever since he’s been in the city, it’s unreal. Eventually they break away from the city and head down a familiar road, as they drive closer and as the Manor comes into view Tim suddenly feels nauseated.</p>
<p>He’s excited and nervous and his stomach is going crazy. The feeling only heightens when they reach the gate to the Manor and Tim finds himself unable to look away. After all this time, he’s finally back. <em>He’s finally home.</em> A small part in the back of his mind comes up with the thought that this isn’t real, this isn’t happening, it’s like a dream and he’s going to wake up at any second.</p>
<p>The cop speaks into the intercom and soon enough the gates open up. Officer Peterson carefully drives through and follows the road up to the front of the Manor, as they approach Tim sees the doors open up. His breath catches in his throat as his family appear on the front steps. There’s Bruce, Alfred, Dick, Jason and Cass. There's another person that Tim doesn’t recognise but he doesn’t pay them much attention.</p>
<p>He’s brought out of his haze when Peterson speaks up next to him. Tim had forgotten where he is for a moment, completely absorbed into seeing his family for the first time in however long.</p>
<p>“You okay pal?” The cops asks sincerely. Tim could only stare at him. Silently blinking. “I know you’ve probably been through a lot and this is overwhelming but everything is okay now. You’re home safe and sound.”</p>
<p>Tim swallows thickly and in robotic movements he nods his head. He tells the copper thank you but barely registers the words as they leave his mouth. It isn’t until the cop gently encourages him that Tim finally moves to get out of the car.</p>
<p>Taking a deep breath Tim opens the door. As soon as his foot hits the ground it’s like he’s been unleashed, Tim shoots out the car and starts running up the stairs, taking two or three at the time, anything to get him closer to his family as soon as possible.</p>
<p>It’s about halfway up the staircase that he collides with someone, he isn’t even entirely sure who he’s hugging but he feels their arms around wrap around him, squeezing so hard that it hurts but Tim isn’t complaining. He wraps his own arms around their shoulders and clings back just as tightly.</p>
<p>After a few seconds he feels himself being moved, it’s only where he’s being picked up and lifted higher. Tim wraps his legs around the person’s torso and adjusts his arms so he’s now hugging their neck.</p>
<p>He isn’t even aware that he’s crying, doesn’t notice it until he has to breathe. He pulls his face away from where he buried it into the fabric covering the person’s shoulder. He takes a long shaky breath but finds he’s unable to control the tears streaming down his cheeks and the way his breath hitches as another sob breaks out of his throat.</p>
<p>There's a hand running up and down his back, a voice speaking unintelligible words into his ear, and the arms around him never loosen up.</p>
<p>After several long moments Tim attempts to get his breathing under control again. He moves away from the shoulder and looks up. Through blurry vision he finds Dick and Jason standing so close just opposite him, they’re watching him with open expressions. Seeing the two of them again makes him sob with uncontrolled happiness.</p>
<p>Tim glances to the side and finally works out that he’s in the arms of Bruce. His adoptive father has him wrapped up securely in a strong embrace.</p>
<p>He squeezes Bruce with his arms again and looks at him. “Bruce.”</p>
<p>Bruce pulls his own face away and he looks back at Tim, a wide relieved smile taking over his face. “Thanks the gods your back Tim. I was so worried. Thank god you’re okay.”</p>
<p>“I missed you.” Tim whispers he rests his head against Bruce’s shoulder again and continues on hugging him, unable to find it in himself to let go.</p>
<p>Eventually Bruce shifts, he begins to slowly drop Tim down to the ground, letting his legs fall from his waist until he’s standing steady on his feet. Tim reluctantly lets his father go, though Bruce must be feeling the same because he keeps a hand on Tim’s shoulder as they take a step apart.</p>
<p>Tim only gets a moment to himself before he’s being wrapped up in another pair of arms and this time he’s much quicker at recognising the person hugging him. Tim sighs as he feels Dick press him closely to his chest, his eldest brother’s arms wrapped firmly around his back and his head resting on top of Tim’s. Unable to help it, Tim sobs again. Overwhelmed by the strong onslaught of emotions.</p>
<p>The hug with Dick doesn’t last as long as it did with Bruce though its long enough for the two of them to be comforted. Once Tim leaves Dick’s arms he’s instantly being crushed by another pair, this time it being Jason’s.</p>
<p>Once he and Jason separate, Tim has a bit more control of himself. He’s continuously taking long deep breaths to try and compose himself, his brain still trying to wrap around the fact that he’s reunited with his family once again.</p>
<p>The next hug he receives is from his sister Cass. While she’s not as broad or built as the others, her hug is just as strong and means just as much. Their height is similar so Tim easily manages to press his head against hers and is able to wrap himself around her body more.</p>
<p>Once they separate Tim hugs Alfred. Seeing the elderly butler who’s practically a grandfather almost makes him break down again. He manages to control himself and is comforted by their hug, much gentler than the others but is just as soothing as the rest.</p>
<p>When they separate Tim takes a moment and wipes his eyes. He’s blinking at each of them as they all smile back. Tim can’t believe it. He’s finally home, back with his family once again.</p>
<p>As if he couldn’t help himself Bruce gets in his space again, his father wraps a single arm around his shoulders and tucks Tim into his side. Tim smiles and goes with it, finding the action reassuring and comforting. Bruce bends down and presses a kiss to Tim’s hair.</p>
<p>“Words cannot describe what I am feeling right now Tim.” Bruce tells him, his voice sounds thick with emotion and Tim could see some tears running down the man’s face. “I’m so happy you’re home.”</p>
<p>“Mr Wayne…”</p>
<p>The moment is interrupted by Officer Peterson who’s still around. Clearly he’s been giving them some space all of this time, if Tim’s being honest he had completely forgotten about the man.</p>
<p>The cop sends Bruce a sympathetic look as he begins to talk. “I know you want to spend time with your son and rejoice, but there are a couple things I need to discuss with you, like legal actions and what the near future will look like for you and your family.”</p>
<p>Bruce takes a deep breath and nods. “Of course. I understand. I want to thank you for bringing my son home.”</p>
<p>Peterson ducks his head. “No thanks needed Mr Wayne, I simply happened to be in the right place at the right time. I found Tim here walking alongside the main road just outside the city. There’s only a couple things I need to cover with you now but we can deal with the rest tomorrow.”</p>
<p>At that Bruce sends Tim a questioning look but doesn’t comment on it as he turns back to pay attention to the cop. Alfred also comes and stands beside them, taking in what was being said. Tim probably ought to pay attention as well because it’s clearly about him but he finds himself not able to. His attention is diverted when Dick appears in front of him and gently tugs him away from Bruce’s side.</p>
<p>Tim now finds himself in front of his siblings and for the first time he takes in their appearances. Dick and Jason both look slightly older, they both look broader too, like they’ve been frequently working out. Their hair styles have stayed the same, at best Dick’s looks a little longer down the back.</p>
<p>Cass appears to be the same as before too. Maybe the only noticeable difference is the way she carries herself, she seems like she’s much more comfortable and confident now.</p>
<p>Something that gets his attention, something that stops him in his tracks for the first time since opening that car door is when he makes eye contact with someone he doesn’t know.</p>
<p>This person seems to be a young teenager, he’s slim, slightly shorter than Tim, has black hair, an olive skin tone. There’s something familiar about him but Tim can’t pinpoint what it is. He knows he’s never met this kid before. The main question is however, what he doing here? He’s been lingering around at the back of the group like he’s not sure on what to do with himself, but he steadily meets Tim’s eyes with a confidence Tim hadn’t been expecting.</p>
<p>The others seem to have finally clicked that the two have noticed each other because his siblings shift about, creating some kind of circle between them all. Dick stands just to the right of the kid and places his hand on his shoulder.</p>
<p>Dick looks at Tim, watching him cautiously. His expression puts Tim on edge, he has no idea on what kind of news he’s about to receive. Who <em>is</em> this kid? They’re obviously all familiar with one another which leads to another question of how long has he been around for? Tim certainly didn’t meet him before disappearing.</p>
<p>“Tim.” Dick gets his attention. His eldest brother now looks almost uncomfortable. “This is Damian. Um, he’s uh, he’s - Damian is Bruce’s biological son.”</p>
<p>Tim blinks. He opens his mouth to say something but quickly shuts it again. Did Dick just say that Bruce has a biological son? As in his adoptive father has a teenage kid that he didn’t know about? He has another brother he was never aware of?</p>
<p>He’s stunned. Upon returning home that is certainly something he never expected to find out. How long has he been gone for!</p>
<p>“None of us knew about Damian.” Jason states firmly while frowning. It’s like he could read Tim’s mind, knowing what he’s thinking. “Bruce didn’t even know himself. Damian was dropped on the doorstep by his mother over a year ago where she left him with no explanations or anything of the sort. It’s like she had enough of Damian and decided to dump him on Bruce.”</p>
<p>As if the news of finding out that Bruce has a biological son wasn’t enough to rock his boat Jason dropping that bomb completely capsizes the boat. Tim feels himself freeze. He blinks at his brother trying to comprehend what he just heard.</p>
<p>“A year ago?” Tim repeats in disbelief. “He’s been around for a year? <em>I’ve been gone for a year!”</em> Tim can’t control the way his voice gets higher.</p>
<p>All of his sibling’s eyes widen at that before a look of sympathy, confusion and sadness washes over them. The change in emotions make Tim feel like he’s missing something else. “What? Don’t tell me there’s another kid or something...”</p>
<p>Dick steps forward and places a gentle hand on his shoulder as if to comfort him but all Tim feels is dread. The action isn’t like what Bruce had done earlier, it feels like Dick is about to deliver some grave news.</p>
<p>“Tim… you’ve been gone for two and a half years.”</p>
<p>Everything stops. No one moves a muscle as Tim just stares back in complete astonishment. That can’t be true…can it?</p>
<p>“Two years… two and a half years… I’ve been gone for two and a half years,” he mumbles underneath his breath trying to understand that information. As he tries to wrap his head around that his chest suddenly tightens and he finds himself unable to breathe. He gasps for air, clutching at his chest. “I can’t breathe. I-I can’t breathe.”</p>
<p>Everything around him blurs and all Tim can focus on is the pain inside his chest. Why can’t he breathe? Two years! He’s been gone for two fucking years? That’s practically three years of his life he’s lost!</p>
<p>His chest is burning now and he thinks he’s crying? At least that is what comes to mind when he feels wetness running down his cheeks. It’s hard to tell at this point.</p>
<p>Something gets his attention. There’s pressure somewhere on his body. He doesn’t know what it is but tries to reach out to it. The pressure moves and his hands are grabbed, Tim clings onto it. Finding the sensation grounding. He still can’t breathe but it’s something.</p>
<p>His hands are moved and now he’s touching something solid, something that’s steadily moving up and down. As well as the pressure Tim tries to focus on it, tries to keep his attention on the movement, it’s surprising when his head starts becoming a little clearer as he focuses on the steady rise and fall of whatever it is.</p>
<p>“Follow my breathing Tim, in and out. Tim can you do that for me, breathe in and breathe out.”</p>
<p>Right, right, breathing… he still can’t breathe, his chest hurts… why can’t he breathe…</p>
<p>“Tim follow my breathing, slowly in and out… copy my movements son…”</p>
<p>Tim’s trying to. The words are telling him to follow the movements and he does try but it’s difficult. As the object rises Tim breathes in and as it falls Tim breathes out. It takes a while but gradually Tim finds as the tightness in his chest eases he’s able to breathe easier.</p>
<p>He takes in one more deep breath before opening his eyes and looking around. In his mind it takes a moment for everything to register. He’s sat on the floor, curled up against someone’s side with his hands stretched out resting on that same person’s stomach.</p>
<p>His chest feels sore as does his head and everything feels a little fuzzy. After a minute he realises that he had a panic attack, a pretty bad one too.</p>
<p>“Tim?”</p>
<p>Tim looks up and finds that it’s Bruce who he’s resting against. Taking another breath Tim pushes himself away from Bruce and sits up. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Sorry I just … yeah.”</p>
<p>Bruce doesn’t comment on what happened and Tim is grateful for that. Instead his adoptive father keeps him sat on the ground for a while, making sure he’s okay before helping him to stand up, and then offering him some support when Tim wobbles.</p>
<p>Tim glances around to find Officer Peterson is still around, looking at Tim with a frown, Dick is hovering just behind Bruce and Jason is up at the top of the stairs overlooking them all. Cass, Alfred and Damian aren’t anywhere to be seen.</p>
<p>“Why don’t we go inside and get some rest? There's been a lot to handle recently.”</p>
<p>Tim nods at Bruce’s suggestion. He feels exhausted. Everything from the overwhelming sensations of leaving the others to being reunited with his family and then experiencing a panic attack has really worn on him.</p>
<p>Bruce says something to the cop and then turns his attention to Tim, together they make their way up the stairs with Dick beside them and Jason watching them approach. Together the four of them enter Wayne Manor.</p>
<p>Tim wishes he’s more with it. He hasn’t seen the place in a long time and wants to appreciate being back home but he’s just too tired to take in all the details. Thankfully Bruce seems to pick up on this, his adoptive father begins to guide him towards the stairs which lead up to where the bedrooms are located.</p>
<p>“Why don’t we get some sleep? We can properly talk once you’re all rested up.”</p>
<p>Time passes in a blur and the next thing Tim is aware of is being tucked into a bed. A soft warm blanket is laid on top of him, a light pressure of a kiss is pressed against his hair and then everything fades away into nothing.</p>
<p>Everything is groggy when Tim wakes up. His head is pounding and he feels exhausted despite just having woken up.</p>
<p>He grips the blanket around him tighter and buries his head deeper into the pillow he’s lying on not wanting to face whatever is going to be thrown his way that day. They’ve been stationed on Krypton for several days so Tim doesn’t think they’ll be leaving any time soon and with the other’s punishments, there’s not a lot they can do. Maybe they’ll look into doing some training that day?</p>
<p>Settling his thoughts Tim takes a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the pillow as he does so and freezes. Why does it smell so familiar? Is his mind making things up or…</p>
<p>Tim shoots up right on the bed and wildly looks around, taking in his surroundings. It takes a moment for it all to sink in and when it does he slumps aback against the headboard of the bed he’s on.</p>
<p>He’s home. It wasn’t a dream. He really did return to Earth and reunite with his family. How did he forget that?</p>
<p>He’s in one of the guest’s bedrooms in the Manor. The walls and décor are all neutral colours, making it seem open and warm, there were beams of light peaking out of the drawn curtains across the windows.</p>
<p>Tim doesn’t know how to feel about not being in his personal bedroom, obviously they’ve put him in here on purpose. Did they still have his room or did they clear it all out when he disappeared? Tim’s not sure and in that moment he’s not sure if he wants to know.</p>
<p>When he glances around the room again, this time his eyes land on a pile of clothes placed on the desk opposite the bed. Upon seeing those Tim realises he’s still dressed in the clothes he wore back from the ship and realises that he desperately wants a shower. The bag he brought from the ship is there too, sitting on the ground unopened. The policeman must have passed it over to someone and they’ve then brought it in.</p>
<p>Grabbing the clean clothes Tim heads for the ensuite attached to the guest bedroom. It’s an open bathroom with plenty of space and Tim wastes no time in starting the shower up.</p>
<p>He only pauses once he’s taken off the shirt and sees the necklace hanging from around his neck. Tim had forgotten about it. It was the gift Doctor Fate had given him when he sorted out Cassie’s enchanted bracelets. Tim studies it closely, seeing the red gemstone glisten brightly when the light hits it. It’s supposedly a cloaking device but Tim doesn’t know how much he believes that, then again does he have a reason to not trust it?</p>
<p>Deciding to not think about it too much, Tim leaves it on, he then proceeds to take off the rest of his clothes and jumps into the shower.</p>
<p>Once Tim is done with his shower, now feeling clean and refreshed, he heads down to the kitchen. Tim takes his time to get there though, he travels at a slow pace as he takes in the feel for being back at home, seeing the corridors of the Manor that he grew up in and remembering everything that’s occurred in them.</p>
<p>When Tim arrives at the kitchen he finds it occupied by Jason and Alfred. Jason is sat at the kitchen island eating something and playing on his phone while Alfred is by the sink scrubbing dishes.</p>
<p>“Look who’s finally decided to get up.” Jason comments smirking at him as he walks into the room. “We thought you were going to end up sleeping all day.”</p>
<p>Taking a seat next to Jason, Tim frowns. “What do you mean? How long have I been asleep for?”</p>
<p>“About 16 hours. It’s nearly lunch time, you’ve been asleep since yesterday evening.”</p>
<p>Tim blinks. He’s both surprised and not by that news. He must have really needed to rest and recharge to be asleep that long.</p>
<p>“How about some food Master Timothy? You must be feeling rather famished at this point.” Alfred asks observing him from the other side of the room.</p>
<p>Tim freezes when he hears Alfred voice, or rather at the words he said. Master. That’s what he used to call Ra’s Al Ghul when he was first kidnapped. Will he be able to handle hearing it again, and not only that but being called that even in a different context?</p>
<p>“Tim?”</p>
<p>Tim snaps his gaze to the side to find Jason wearily watching him. Tim looks at him for a moment before he realises he had zoned out and still needs to answer Alfred. He looks over at the butler, “Uh sorry, yes please to food Alfred. If you don’t mind.”</p>
<p>Alfred studies him for a moment but doesn’t comment on his behaviour, instead he smiles and starts preparing Tim some food. Tim glances down at fiddles with his fingers anxiously, he’ll need to talk to Alfred about that. Hopefully the butler won’t get offended with Tim asking him to stop, but Tim doesn’t know if he’s going to be able to handle the reminder all the time.</p>
<p>A tense silence fills the kitchen and it makes Tim feel guilty. He doesn’t mean to put Alfred and Jason in an awkward position but he’s grateful that neither of them ask him any questions about <em>anything.</em></p>
<p>In the end Tim turns and faces Jason who’s still on his phone. Tim stares at it for a long time, taking in the difference from this phone and the one he remembers. It makes him realise that this is just one of many things he’s missed in his <em>two and a half years</em> away.</p>
<p>“How have you been Jason?” Tim asks his brother. He knows a lot of attention will be focused on him but he wants to reconnect with his family too. He wistfully wonders what things he’s missed in his sibling’s lives (beside Damian, that’s an entirely different matter altogether).</p>
<p>Jason side eyes him, pursing his lips as if debating on what to tell Tim. “Up and down.” He says in the end. Tim almost rolls his eyes at the vague answer. “I finished my qualification.”</p>
<p>Tim perks up at hearing that. “Oh really, congrats! So what are you doing now work wise?”</p>
<p>As they discuss Jason’s work, Alfred drops a sandwich in front of Tim and leaves them be. It takes all of Tim’s effort to split his attention between listening to Jason and not being overwhelmed by the sandwich. When was the last time he had normal <em>human</em> food?</p>
<p>They talk for a while, changing from topic to topic but stay away from anything big and heavy. Tim finds out, that other than Damian, thankfully nothing major has changed in anyone’s lives. There’s been job changes and a few family arguments but nothing life changing to say. Tim is relieved to find this out. There's a few things worldwide that he’s missed but Jason’s told him that he can catch up with all that later on, it’s nothing to really fret about.</p>
<p>Their conversation is interrupted when Bruce and Dick enter the kitchen. They’re pleased to see that he’s awake and ask about how he’s feeling while both giving him a hug. Tim soaks in the attention, not minding it at all, and is yet again relieved to find that they don’t ask him any major questions.</p>
<p>However that relief instantly vanishes when Bruce sceptically asks Tim is he’s willing to talk to the police so they could clear some stuff up. Tim freezes, unsure on what to do. In the back of his mind he knew that he would need to talk to the police but he knows that they’ll be asking questions which he doesn’t think he’s ready to answer yet.</p>
<p>In the end he agrees to do it, he goes with Bruce and Dick and they take him to the library where two policemen are waiting. There's the cop from yesterday and the commissioner.</p>
<p>Tim doesn’t tell them anything. After an internal debate on what to do, he refuses to speak about anything that’s happened to him. He doesn’t say where he’s been, who (and what) he’s encountered and nothing about how he returned home. The only information he gives is how he knows he’s no longer in danger, nor is his family, from those who originally took him.</p>
<p>Of course Tim can’t guarantee it but there’s no way he’s saying that Earth may or may not be attacked by some alien assassins. He doesn’t think that’ll go down well.</p>
<p>The police prod him for more details but Tim doesn’t budge on it. Eventually they give in and say they’re only a phone call away when he does want to share more. Bruce sees them out after that while Dick stays behind with Tim.</p>
<p>During the entire conversation Tim could feel Dick watching him, his brother’s concerned gaze never once leaving him the entire time. Tim would snap at him for staring if it were different circumstances. Dick gets up from the chair he’s been sat on and approaches Tim on the opposite couch. His brother crouches down in front of him and places a gentle hand on Tim’s knee, rubbing it soothingly.</p>
<p>“Tim, I know that there’s a lot going on inside your mind and that’s completely understandable, I also get why you may not want to talk to the police but I want you to know if you ever, and I mean it, <em>if you ever</em> want to talk about what happened then I’m happy to listen. I won’t judge, I won’t ask questions, all I’ll do is listen. Please don’t shut us out, you’re not alone, we’re all here for you okay.”</p>
<p>Hearing Dick talk, Tim feels his emotions building up inside of his chest. He closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths to control himself. Opening his eyes back up Tim looks up and meets Dick’s. “Thank you Dick. I’m – I’m just not ready yet. I don’t know when I will be either. There’s so much I need to catch up on, so much that I’ve missed both in our family and around the world. I know you’re there for me no matter what.”</p>
<p>Opposite him Dick looks tearful and Tim feels bad for making Dick like that. Without thinking about it Tim stands up, encouraging Dick to do the same, before he’s giving his brother a hug. Dick instantly hugs him back, resting his head on top of Tim’s.</p>
<p>“I missed you Timmy. Everyday.”</p>
<p>“I missed you too. I never stopped thinking about you from the moment we got separated.”</p>
<p>They only break apart when Bruce enters the room, laughing lightly as they do so. Now alone away from the police, Bruce tells Tim pretty much what Dick said to him. If he wants to talk then he would listen no matter what. Obviously Bruce would like to know the details but he’s not going to force Tim into talking before he’s ready too. Tim appreciates this and politely tells Bruce what he told Dick.</p>
<p>After that the three of them spend a few hours together. As Tim had done with Jason, he gets updates on Bruce and Dick’s personal lives. Other than Damian appearing, nothing major has happened. Dick got a couple work promotions and Bruce’s company currently has the highest numbers it’s ever gotten which is impressive.</p>
<p>Following their catch up, Tim retreats back to the guest room he woke up in. He hasn’t yet found out the current status of his bedroom but Tim figures that he isn’t in that much of a rush to do so.</p>
<p>He crashes onto the bed and buries his face into the pillow. He hasn’t done much that day but he feels exhausted. It’s still sinking in that he’s returned home, he’s back with his family and no longer in imminent danger all the time.</p>
<p>Tim thinks about everything, his thoughts reeling all over the place. He had refused to talk to the police about what happened, not budging in the slightest to give them any details on what happened to him. Tim hadn’t been lying when he said he isn’t ready to talk yet, he needs time to comprehend everything and then he needs to decide if he going to actually come out with the truth  or make up a cover story.</p>
<p>What are the chances his family and the police are going to believe he got kidnapped by aliens? If it didn’t happen to Tim he certainly wouldn’t believe it. They would end up thinking he’s cracked and try to send him to therapy or even ship him to an insane asylum like Arkham.</p>
<p>He could always try telling them half of the truth? Isn’t there a saying along the lines of “the best lies are half-truths”. Tim could pick out areas of what he’s been through but simply leave out details, like the biggest detail being that it all occurred in space.</p>
<p>Tim lets out a groan, he doesn’t know what to do!</p>
<p>For the next few days Tim feels like a ghost. He floats around the Manor not entirely sure on what to do with himself. His family are tiptoeing around him as if the smallest of things may trigger him off, it leaves Tim feeling agitated and frustrated.</p>
<p>On the most part Tim feels fine. Physically he’s okay, just slightly underweight but Alfred is working with him to get him eating regularly again which includes a variety of foods and supplements that he needs to function.</p>
<p>Mentally though is a little bit questionable. Tim knows on the most part he’s okay however there is a bout of paranoia coursing through him, anxiety often comes and goes, he gets flashbacks at random intervals which leaves him feeling disorientated, nightmares happen each night and he often loses track of time (mostly because he forgets he can now actually track it again by using clocks).</p>
<p>More often than not he’s with a family member, they certainly don’t want to leave him on his own nor be too far away from him, so a lot of his time is occupied but those times when he’s not with someone Tim has to try and find something to do. His siblings have taken it upon themselves to write him a list of things he's missed and needs to catch up on so Tim spends a good amount of time browsing the internet researching those things. It ranges from political news to the most recent meme.</p>
<p>Throughout this it doesn’t help that the main thing on his mind is whether he should tell everyone the truth or not. It’s like he’s carrying a massive weight on his shoulders and it’s heavily weighing him down. Thankfully none of them have yet pushed him to talk but Tim can tell they’re itching to ask, it’s only so long until they break their restraint. Tim still hasn’t decided what to do.</p>
<p>At one point, several days after arriving home, Tim is aimlessly wondering the halls of the Manor, taking in all the details he remembers and picks up on anything new that has been added in his absence.</p>
<p>In one particular hallway Tim comes across a painting, it’s a family portrait and looks like it’s been done fairly recently. The picture is of Bruce, Alfred, Dick and Cass. They’re dressed up in formal attire, like something they all would wear to a gala. The men are suits made of different shades of grey with different coloured shirts and ties while Cass is in a simple black dress, it’s plain but it suits her and she pulls it off fantastically.</p>
<p>He doesn’t know how long he stands there staring at the picture, it’s very well painted, uniquely capturing all of their features and the details of their clothing, it’s so good that it could pass as a photograph rather than a painting.</p>
<p>“This took seven weeks to complete. I gifted it to father as a present for his birthday.”</p>
<p>Tim shits his pants when a voice speaks up. He startles badly and snaps his head to the side to find Damian standing nearby looking at him. Tim takes a deep breath and tries to settle his pounding heart. “Jesus christ, don’t do that!”</p>
<p>Damian stares back unimpressed. After a moment his words catch up to Tim and his eyes widen, he glances between the painting and Damian. “You painted this? Holy shit that’s incredible.”</p>
<p>“Thank you Timothy. I was unsure on what to gift father and Richard suggested to do something personal. Father was pleased with it.”</p>
<p>Tim nods still blown away by the apparent talent this kid has. “I can imagine.”</p>
<p>They stand there together silently in the corridor and Tim takes a moment to study Damian. Finding out Damian’s existence had been a shock, one of the two biggest ones upon returning home, and Tim didn’t know how to approach it. He hasn’t spoken to Damian at all since coming back, this in fact has been their first conversation.</p>
<p>Being around the teenager feels off but Tim figures that’s because he doesn’t know him, he isn’t familiar with his presence in the manor and in the family. Tim is still adjusting to being back so there’s already a lot on his plate and this just adds to it.</p>
<p>Tim is aware of Damian’s story, the others have caught him up on it. None of them had been expecting it, even Bruce didn’t know about the kid, so Tim couldn’t be annoyed at that. He still feels off about it though, but deep down he knows he’ll adjust to having Damian around just like all the others had done.</p>
<p>“I was on my way to the library, would you like to accompany me?” Damian asks breaking the silence between them.</p>
<p>Tim blinks, surprised at the offer but nods. “Sure, I’m not doing anything.”</p>
<p>Together they quietly make their way to the library. Being with Damian is different, it doesn’t feel like the kid is itching to ask him a million questions on what happened to him, it’s like he’s content to just let Tim be and Tim finds that refreshing. However it does add more to his conflicting emotions about the kid.</p>
<p>They enter the room and take separate couches. Damian grabs a book from the side while Tim simply plonks down onto a cushion not bothering with anything.</p>
<p>“You had been gone a year when I arrived here. Despite it being that long they never stopped searching for you. Father had private investigators on speed dial, he would jump every time someone called, every event the Wayne’s attended father would plead for your return.”</p>
<p>Tim feels himself stop and he looks at the kid who is only focused on the book in his lap.</p>
<p>“I admit at first I had been jealous of you Timothy. Even though you had not been here you still occupied so much of father’s mind. As that all happened it was Richard who taught me what it is like to be part of the family, who taught me to accept and to care. I hadn’t been an easy addition, I see that now, but we all found common ground in the end. As time went by the search never ended, the hope of you returning was always there.”</p>
<p>At Damian’s words Tim could feel himself welling up. Just hearing that they never stopped looking for him was nearly enough to send him over the edge. He hadn’t even been on Earth but they never stopped looking.</p>
<p>Tim buries his face in his hands and takes a few shaky breaths to collect himself together. He doesn’t know why Damian is telling him these things but he finds that he appreciates it. Damian hadn’t been there when it first happened, he’ll see the whole situation from a different perspective.</p>
<p>That’s enough for Tim to solidify that he wants to get to know Damian. The honesty at the start and the way he opened up about his arrival is enough to convince Tim.</p>
<p>Eventually he drops his hands and glances at Damian. “I’m sorry that’s how your introduction to the family went, it couldn’t have been easy. By the sounds of it, you’ve already been through a lot of character progression and I would like to get to know you. I already know that you can paint, what else do you like to do?”</p>
<p>They talk for a couple hours and Tim finds it interesting. The two of them in fact have very little in common and there’s a clear line where it’s kind of awkward for both of them but Tim does enjoy getting to know the kid. They don’t have to like one another straight away, but this is a good steppingstone, at least that’s what Tim thinks.</p>
<p>Apparently Dick must have similar thoughts because of the proud and pleased grin he sends the two of them when he walks in on their conversation hours later.</p>
<p>Each day is different as it passes by. There are good days and there are bad days. The good days are when Tim’s feeling content and adjusted to being back home. The bad days are when everything comes crashing down on him, the anxiety, the disorientation and even paranoia become too overwhelming for him to handle.</p>
<p>Nightmares are common too, unfortunately Tim has the feeling that they won’t be going away any time soon. They mostly consist of flashbacks of what happened when he had been trapped with Ra’s Al Ghul, mainly of all the torment and torture he had endured.</p>
<p>He knows that his family are concerned and how they’re getting more worried each day, Tim’s even overheard Bruce say to Alfred about getting him to go see a doctor or a therapist. It annoys Tim that Bruce has suggested it but at the same time he understands the reason behind it.</p>
<p>Another mental barrier Tim is facing is focused on his old bedroom. Since returning Tim’s been based in the guest bedroom, it’s quickly becoming his permanent one because he can’t find it in himself to go back to his old one. According to his family his old room hasn’t been touched, meaning it’s the exact same as it had been the day he was kidnapped. Tim finds himself unable to go into the room, it’s like he’ll be forced to remember the Tim that was kidnapped and realise that’s not the same Tim who has returned. He’s different now than to what he was almost three years ago.</p>
<p>It’s been about a week and a half since his return now and Tim still hasn’t spoken about what happened to him, he still refuses to answer any sort of question about his kidnapping and disappearance. Tim’s aware that it isn’t healthy to keep it all bottled up inside but he hasn’t yet decided on whether he’s going to tell them the truth or not. It’s a constant debate he has with himself, even going as far as making a pros and cons list to help him decide on what to do.</p>
<p>It’s only when Jason accidently walks in on him while shirtless that Tim realises he can’t continue with the silence anymore. He finally cracks under the weight of the secrets he’s been hiding from everyone.</p>
<p>After coming out of the shower, Tim had only been dressed in a towel which was wrapped around his waist. Typically he forgot to take clothes into the bathroom with him but he didn’t think of it too much as an issue considering it’s an ensuite. As he had been getting his clothes out to wear for the day, his bedroom door swings open without warning and Jason comes striding in like he owns the place.</p>
<p>Tim is livid at the audacity Jason has to just stroll into his bedroom like that, thank god he had a towel on or else it’ll be extremely embarrassing for both parties involved. Tim turns to scald his brother but stops short when he finds Jason frozen in place staring at him with wide eyes and a horrified expression.</p>
<p>Tim frowns, not understanding Jason’s behaviour. Surely it’s not that much of a shock to see him half naked? Sure he’s not muscular, but its only pale skin on show so what else could there be…</p>
<p>It’s embarrassing how long it takes for it to click and once it does it’s Tim’s turn to be horrified. He feels his heart drop and suddenly he couldn’t breathe.</p>
<p>The scars.</p>
<p>Jason’s just seen all of the scars on his back. All the ones he’s received from the torture he’s endured, where the healing cream had helped close the wounds but left scars behind nonetheless.</p>
<p>The two of them stand there staring at one another for a long time, neither of them moving or saying anything. Tim doesn’t know whether he wants to run and hide or break down crying. How the hell was he supposed to explain the scars? Jason wasn’t supposed to see them, no one was! What’s he going to do?</p>
<p>“Hey Jason, did you ask Tim – what are you guys doing?” Dick’s voice breaks the two of them out of the weird trance they had fallen into. The eldest of the three had come to the room to find out what had been taking Jason so long to ask Tim a question and finds them having a stare off while Tim is undressed.</p>
<p>With no explanations Jason spins around, grabs the front of Dick’s t-shirt and yanks him into the bedroom and slams the door shut behind him. Dick stumbles in and glares at Jason, he crosses his arms over his chest and silently demands for an explanation.</p>
<p>Jason glares back before pining Tim with a look. “Tim turn around.”</p>
<p>Tim continues to stare at Jason in horror, his eyes would occasionally flicker to Dick in the same response. Tim doesn’t know what to do. Both of his brothers are looking at him expectantly, Jason with fire and concern in his eyes and Dick with confusion and worry.</p>
<p>In the end Tim thickly swallows and slowly turns around so his back is to his brothers. He takes controlling breaths to help ground him as the scars are displayed, he ignores the soft gasp that emits from Dick.</p>
<p>After counting to thirty Tim moves again and shoves a jumper on wanting to hide his back from sight. He quickly dresses into some sweatpants too, there’s no way he’s about to have this conversation half naked and dressed in a towel.</p>
<p>The room is filled with a heavy silence and Tim feels vulnerable. He hates it. Jason and Dick are staring at him with pity in their eyes along with concern, anger and genuine sadness. It’s crazy to think that Tim can still read his brothers well even after years apart.</p>
<p>“Tim,” Jason sighs, he runs a hand over his head before settling into a tight posture with his arms crossed over his chest, “we have been ignoring the elephant in the room since you’ve returned out of respect for you and I think it’s time that we finally ask. What the hell happened to you while you were gone Tim? Those scars man… what the fuck?”</p>
<p>Tim slumps onto the bed, leaning back against the headboard. Jason stays standing while Dick lowers himself onto the opposite end of the mattress.</p>
<p>In that moment Tim knew he couldn’t hold it back anymore. One moment to the next, everything spills out of Tim’s mouth. It’s like a dam has been broken and all the water is gushing out.</p>
<p>Tim tells them everything.</p>
<p>He describes being taken from Earth and waking up strapped to a table, to becoming a slave, how he escaped, how he was saved and looked after and the crazy adventures he ended up being part of. He talks about the aliens and creatures he encountered, the different planets he visited, how he was injured, how he was kidnapped again, how he was tortured followed by being rescued a second time, how he spent days recovering with the others and finally how he returned home.</p>
<p>There are details he missed of course, his mind is in too much of a frenzy to remember everything but he thinks he covers the majority of it. By the end of his story, Dick is hugging him tightly and Jason is sat on the end of the bed. Tears were running down his face, Dick is in the same boat and opposite him Jason appears to be impassive.</p>
<p>Tim sobs into Dick’s chest, holding him tightly as everything comes out. So many emotions coming together and erupting as a noisy and snotty mess.</p>
<p>It takes some time but eventually Tim calms down and wipes his face with his sleeve as he pushes away from Dick. He leans back against the headboard and fiddles with his sleeve.</p>
<p>“So there, <em>that’s </em>what happened to me.” Tim bites out, feeling rather bitter. “Are you finally happy to know? Call me crazy, call me insane because aliens don’t exist or whatever but that’s the truth. Take it or leave it. Those scars are the result of what I have had to endure.”</p>
<p>His brothers remain quiet for a long time, he’s not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. He doesn’t push for them to talk however, there’s a lot of information to understand and that’s even if they believe it.</p>
<p>“So <em>aliens </em>took you…” Dick drawls out, looking kind of constipated, “did you ever find out why?”</p>
<p>Tim shakes his head. “Not really. Apparently the one who took me just thought I was interesting or something. Out of the billions of humans there are and he chooses me.” He laughs in disbelief.</p>
<p>“What if he takes you again?” Jason questions suspiciously.</p>
<p>At this point Tim doesn’t know if they’re simply humouring him or if they genuinely believe everything he just told them. Either way he answers their questions the best he could. “Hopefully that won’t happen. I got given this gem, it’s supposedly a cloaking device, as long as I wear it I’m hidden from the League so they can’t track me.”</p>
<p>They fall into silence again and Tim sits there waiting for more questions, or even a disbelieving laugh. When nothing comes Tim frowns and glances at his brothers. “Do you believe me?”</p>
<p>Dick sighs and rubs his hands over his face. “Its certainly a lot to comprehend but I don’t think you would make all of that up. Also it kind of explains why we never found you. You weren’t even on the planet, of course no one would be able find you.”</p>
<p>“That day Tim,” Jason starts, his voice sounds think and he looks haunted, “that day was awful. I don’t even think there’s a word to describe what that day was like really. Turning away just for a moment and then looking back to find you gone…”</p>
<p>It shatters Tim’s heart to see his normally strong-willed brother breaking down. Unable to help himself Tim crawls across the bed and throws his arms around Jason’s neck, capturing him in a hug. His brother doesn’t cry but he hugs back, squeezing Tim tightly.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” Tim whispers brokenly, feeling his own emotions rising again, “I’m so sorry you both had to go through that. Every day I thought about what you two had to go through, me disappearing like that, and it was horrendous. I’m so sorry.”</p>
<p>A hand appears on Tim’s back, making him look away from Jason. Dick has moved closer, rubbing a comforting hand across his back. Dick has tears in his eyes again and when he speaks his voice is hoarse with emotion. “It’s okay Timmy, it’s not your fault. We never blamed you. It’s never been your fault. You’re here now right, we got you back, that’s all that matters.”</p>
<p>Tim nods and swallows the bubble that’s formed in his throat. Doing his best to keep control of his emotions, Tim smiles sadly. “Yeah. I’m back. I’m not okay, but I will be.”</p>
<p>He pulls away from Jason and the man wipes his eyes, still stubbornly refusing to cry. Tim snorts softly, he’s pleased to find Jason hasn’t changed all that much. The man looks up, glancing between him and Dick. “So what do you want to do? Do you want to tell Bruce everything you told us or stay quiet about it? Since you were taken by aliens - what the fuck is all that about – the police can’t exactly do anything. They’re still going to want a statement or some shit.”</p>
<p>Tim shakes his head in denial. “No. I don’t want to tell Bruce, at least not yet. Look I know how it sounds, its crazy, the whole thing is just bananas. I don’t know if Bruce will believe it or not and we’re absolutely not telling the authorities! They’ll just straight up send me to a therapist or an asylum.”</p>
<p>Dick and Jason both blink at him and Tim glares back. “I am <em>not</em> going to see a therapist, no matter how much you think I need to. End of discussion.”</p>
<p>His brothers hum and Tim knows that they’ll be revisiting that topic at a later date despite his protests. He decides to ignore it for now, he’ll deal with it when that bridge comes around.</p>
<p>“I will tell him, I promise,” Tim sighs, “Just let me adjust being back home and everything then I’ll tell him. Please don’t tell him, or anyone else.”</p>
<p>They both stare at him for a long time before they look at each other, and even though Tim’s been away for a long time he can still recognise the “over-protective older brothers” looks and silent conversation. Tim pouts, not liking he can’t tell <em>what</em> they’re thinking, he just knows its about him.</p>
<p>They turn back to him a moment later. “We won’t tell anyone, however you have to come to one of us any time there’s some kind of issue or you need someone to talk to about <em>anything</em>.”</p>
<p>Tim sends them a glare, he’s practically being blackmailed for their silence. Huffing Tim throws his arms up dramatically. “Okay fine, I’ll talk to one of you. You both know now anyway, it’ll make it slightly easier to deal with.”</p>
<p>They send him matching smug grins. “Glad to hear it.”</p>
<p>“So I know that you’ve been through some pretty horrific stuff, but there sounds like there was some positive stuff too.” Dick comments sounding intrigued. “What was that team like who saved you? What planets did you visit, how different is space life compared to Earth?”</p>
<p>Tim smiles, now these were the kind of questions he actually doesn’t mind answering. It’s going to be great that he can excitedly tell someone about how mind blowing being in space was, of course ignoring all the bad stuff that happened in between.</p>
<p>Things weren’t perfect, far from it but he’s home, he’s back with his family and he has a group of aliens to thank for that. Tim knows its going to take a while to adjust and settle back into human life, if he ever settles at all, but he gets to live his life knowing something that only others ever dream about.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Well that certainly was a ride! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, I had a lot of fun writing Tim's reunion with his family and exploring some of things that he'll come across now being back home. </p>
<p>Throughout this chapter I know that there are areas that probably should have been elaborated or explored more, but there were just certain scenes and character relationships I wanted to focus on so that's what I did. Hopefully no one is upset by this, some things I haven't covered will probably be approached in the next chapter. </p>
<p>For those who asked about Damian, well I finally decided that I am going to add him into the story! I wasn't actually sure about it until I started writing this chapter. I feel like announcing his existence is one of the biggest changes Tim will have to deal with and I feel like that it adds to the story. Plus who doesn't like a little bit of bonding?!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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